Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California’s PG&E Sees Criminal Charges in 2019 Wildfire
Apr 8 2021 // A California prosecutor has filed 33 criminal charges accusing troubled Pacific Gas & Electric of inadvertently injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash in a 2019 fire blamed on its...
Three Dozen California Bills Focus on Wildfire, Others Are Concerning for Insurance Industry
Apr 6 2021 // Roughly three dozen pieces of California legislation are directly related to wildfire, and while those bills should hold much interest for the insurance community, there are other bills making their rounds that should draw...
‘Not Over Yet,’ But Crews Gaining Control of South Dakota Wildfires
Mar 31 2021 // Firefighters have begun to gain control of wildfires in the Black Hills of South Dakota that have forced the evacuation of more than 400 homes and closed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Three separate wildfires were...
Lawmakers from California Want U.S. Departments to Be Year-Round Wildfire Agencies
Mar 31 2021 // California’s U.S. senators and nearly two-dozen representatives are asking the Agriculture and Interior departments to transition their agencies to a year-round wildland workforce because blazes are no longer limited...
South Dakota Wildfires: 400 Homes Evacuated; Mount Rushmore Closed
Mar 30 2021 // Three separate wildfires in the Black Hills of South Dakota have forced evacuations of more than 400 homes northwest of Rapid City and shut down Mount Rushmore, authorities said. A fire that started near Schroeder Road in...
California Wildfire Sparked When Tree Hit Power Line, Report Shows
Mar 24 2021 // A Northern California wildfire that killed four people and destroyed more than 200 buildings last year was sparked when tree branches came into contact with Pacific Gas & Electric power lines, officials said in a...
Texas Forest Service: Southern Plains Wildfire Outbreak Possible this Spring
Mar 23 2021 // Texas A&M Forest Service and the National Weather Service have identified an extremely dangerous fire weather phenomena known as a Southern Plains Wildfire Outbreak, or SPWO, and are watching for it to occur in...
California County Adding Artificial Intelligence for Wildfires
Mar 23 2021 // Sonoma County officials say they will add artificial intelligence technology to help fight wildfires with a 24-7 monitor to track fire outbreaks. The technology will be added to the county’s network of wildfire...
Wisconsin Issues Wildfire Warning After 30-Plus Weekend Blazes
Mar 22 2021 // Wisconsin authorities are warning residents about weather conditions after more than 30 wildfires were reported throughout the state on March 20. Much of the state is under a burn ban due to forecasts of low relative...
Oregon Lawsuits Seek $1B from Pacific Power over Wildfires
Mar 22 2021 // Two new lawsuits filed in Marion County, Ore., seek more than $1 billion in damages from Pacific Power, claiming the utility’s negligence led to wildfires in the Santiam Canyon last year. The two lawsuits filed in...
California Attorney General Challenges Housing Plans in Wildfire Areas
Mar 19 2021 // California’s attorney general is challenging some of the state’s largest suburban development projects as local officials weigh the risk of increasingly devastating wildfires against the state’s dire need...
Bill to Create Fund to Battle Washington Wildfires Moving Through Legislature
Mar 17 2021 // A bill to create a dedicated fund to prevent and fight wildfires in Washington easily passed the state House of Representatives and will be sent to the state Senate. The bill, promoted by Commissioner of Public Lands...
Oregon Lawsuits Seek $1B From Pacific Power over Wildfires
Mar 12 2021 // Two new lawsuits filed in Marion County, Ore., seek more than $1 billion in damages from Pacific Power, claiming the utility’s negligence led to wildfires in the Santiam Canyon last year. The two lawsuits filed...
More Than 2,300 Acres Burned by 24 Wildfires in Alabama
Mar 10 2021 // Wildfires have burned more than 2,300 acres of land across Alabama in recent days, forestry officials said Monday as firefighters battled two dozen blazes statewide. Fire charred 560 acres in St. Clair County, and two...
California Commissioner Wants Rate Transparency Rules for Wildfire Risk
Mar 8 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has proposed new rules to give homeowners and businesses open access to their properties’ wildfire risk scores. The new rules would require insurance companies to...
Oregon Hotel Fined for Overcharging People During Wildfire
Mar 1 2021 // A hotel in Roseburg, Oregon, has been fined $31,000 for overcharging dozens of area residents who sought rooms after fleeing a large wildfire in September. The News-Review reports SUBH Investment LLC, which does business...
Fire Victim Trust Sues California Utility Executives for Causing Wildfires
Feb 24 2021 // The Fire Victim Trust has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against certain former officers and directors of PG&E Corp. and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for their role in causing the catastrophic 2017...
California Commissioner Wants Rate Transparency Rules for Wildfire Risk
Feb 23 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has proposed new rules to give homeowners and businesses open access to their properties’ wildfire risk scores. The new rules would require insurance companies to...
California Surplus Lines Weathered Pandemic, Wildfires, Civil Unrest
Feb 22 2021 // In a year marred by a pandemic, massive Western U.S. wildfires, civil unrest, and a contentious election, California’s surplus lines market “didn’t miss a beat.” That was the message from Ben McKay,...
Most Oregonians Applying for Disaster Aid After 2020 Wildfires Denied
Feb 16 2021 // More than 24,000 Oregonians applied for federal disaster assistance after the catastrophic 2020 wildfires and about 57% of them were denied. Jefferson Public Radio reports that nearly 14,000 Oregonians have been denied...
