Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Sues Utility Over 2006 Ventura County Wildfire
Dec 8 2008 // California is suing Southern California Edison and two property owners to recover the $7.4 million spent to fight a 2006 wildfire that burned five homes. The attorney general filed the negligence suit late November in...
California Wildfires May Take Longer to Settle
Nov 30 2008 // Industry analysts are predicting insured losses from the Freeway Complex, Sayre and Tea Fires that burned Southern California in mid-November will range from $600 million to $800 million. Comparatively, those losses are...
Heavy Rainfall in California Wildfire Zones Could Lead to Landslides, Flooding
Nov 26 2008 // As heavy rainfall is forecasted for Southern California, particularly in areas recently ravaged by destructive wildfires, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner advised all Californians to check their coverage and evaluate...
California Deploys Enforcement Officers in Santa Barbara
Nov 24 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has activated a disaster fraud task force in Santa Barbara, which includes the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Fraud and Investigation Divisions, the Santa Barbara...
California Insured Fire Losses Could Reach $800 Million
Nov 21 2008 // As the fires continue to burn in parts of southern California, industry analysts are predicting insured losses from the Freeway Complex, Sayre and Tea Fires will range from $600 million to $800 million. Catastrophe risk...
Officials Blame Santa Barbara Wildfire on Bonfire
Nov 20 2008 // A bonfire built by college students and never fully extinguished was responsible for the massive wildfire in Santa Barbara that destroyed 210 homes, many of them multimillion-dollar properties, authorities said. An...
California’s Emergency Fire Costs Hit $305 Million; Governor To Propose Insurance Surcharge
Nov 20 2008 // The Southern California wildfires are burning a bigger hole in California’s budget, adding to the state’s $11.2 billion deficit, the governor’s finance spokesman said. The state has spent $305 million on...
California State Fund Extends Credit Relief to Policyholders Affected by Southern California Fires
Nov 19 2008 // The California State Compensation Insurance Fund announced it will extend credit to policyholders who have suffered financial loss or business disruption caused by the fires in Montecito, Orange County and Sylmar. To date,...
Majority of Southern California Wildfires Contained
Nov 19 2008 // Firefighters are still working on containing two of the fires burning in Southern California. In the past five days, more than 42,000 acres have burned, and close to 1,000 properties have been destroyed, according to CAL...
Firefighters Make Gains on Southern California Wildfires
Nov 18 2008 // Firefighters made progress on extinguishing the fires burning in Southern California yesterday, thanks to reduced wind conditions. To date, three of the five fires have been contained, although more than 44,000 acres have...
Fire Victims Should Seek Safety, Make Contact with Insurers
Nov 18 2008 // As firefighters work to contain the Tea, Sayre, and Freeway Complex fires throughout Southern California, property/casualty insurance companies are on the ground reaching out to policyholders to facilitate immediate...
Southern California Battles Devastating Wildfires
Nov 17 2008 // Southern Californians weathered a fourth day of devastation on Sunday, as wind-blasted wildfires destroyed hundreds of residences, shut down major freeways and forced thousands of residents in the path of flames to flee to...
What Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use Coverage Means to California Fire Victims
Nov 17 2008 // The skies are filled with smoke, and thousands of homeowners being evacuated from their homes in Southern California. It has been a weekend of devastation with the fires still ablaze. Our Saturday night’s plans...
California Commissioner Declares Insurance Emergency to Expedite Fire Claims Processing
Nov 17 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner declared an insurance emergency to cut red tape and allow insurance companies to use out of state adjusters to more quickly work through the spate of fire...
San Diego Voters Reject Fire Tax
Nov 16 2008 // Wildfires claimed more lives and homes in San Diego than any other county in California’s devastating firestorms of 2003 and 2007, yet voters in that county rejected a proposition that would have established a parcel...
California Recovers Nearly $13 Million Following 2007 Wildfires
Nov 2 2008 // Nearly one year after the October 2007 wildfires, the California Department of Insurance has recovered more than $12.7 million from insurance companies by standing up for consumers who had been shortchanged. The $12.7...
Fire-Charred New Mexico Mountains Fuel Policy Debate
Oct 24 2008 // Along a twisting dirt road in the heart of New Mexico’s Manzano Mountains was a piece of property that caught Paul Davis’ eye. There was a lush meadow, a stream on one side and an expansive hill covered with...
Oregon Proposes Sharing Wildfire Costs
Oct 22 2008 // The only sure things about wildfires is that they will cost more to put out than they used to and that they remain as unpredictable as ever. Hotter, drier summers, rising labor and equipment costs, buildup of forest fuels...
California Opens Local Assistance Center for Wildfire Victims
Oct 22 2008 // California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the establishment of a Local Assistance Center to help victims of the recent Southern California wildfires. The center, located at Dexter Park, in Sylmar, Calif., will...
California Recovers Nearly $13 Million Following 2007 Wildfires
Oct 21 2008 // Nearly one year after the October 2007 wildfires, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that the state’s Department of Insurance has recovered more than $12.7 million from insurance companies by...
