Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Surplus Lines Weathered Pandemic, Wildfires, Civil Unrest
Feb 9 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,...
Damage From Wildfire Smoke Extends to Infrastructure, Businesses, Other Communities
Feb 8 2021 // The damage caused by wildfires can be devastating, gutting structures and driving out people who live and work nearby. And researchers say the smoke from the annually recurring blazes also delivers economic damage to areas...
Arizona Facing Above-Normal Wildfire Threats
Feb 8 2021 // Drought remains in place across Arizona with a likelihood of warm and dry conditions in coming months even after a recent storm dropped heavy snow across much of the state’s high country, a 2021 wildfire season...
California Largest Utilities Will Spend Billions to Lower Wildfire Risk
Feb 8 2021 // California’s largest utilities said that they will spend about $13 billion to reduce the risk of wildfires following the worst fire season in modern state history and a string of blazes that were blamed on their...
National Fire Protection Association, State Farm Funding Wildfire Preparedness
Feb 4 2021 // The National Fire Protection Association and State Farm have kicked off a funding awards application period for the eighth national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on Saturday, May 1, which helps communities prepare...
Drought, Wildfire Threat Lead to Disaster Declaration in Texas
Feb 3 2021 // Saying exceptional drought conditions pose a wildfire threat in a large swath of West and Southwest Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for counties in those areas of the state. Abbott said drought...
Utility Paying $2B Settlement in Deadly 2018 California Fire
Jan 27 2021 // Southern California Edison will pay $2.2 billion to settle insurance claims from a deadly, destructive wildfire sparked by its equipment in 2018, the utility announced this week. Edison, which acknowledged no wrongdoing,...
California Releases Final ZIPs for Non-Renewal Protection for 2020 Wildfires
Jan 4 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that nearly 500 policyholders in six ZIP codes affected by the Mountain View Fire in Mono County were included in the mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance...
The Other New Normal: Wildfires from a Winery Insurer’s Perspective
Dec 21 2020 // Arriving on the scene after a wildfire has ravaged an area is never easy. One can only imagine what experiencing such devastation is like for the victims of these fires, who have lost homes, livelihoods and even loved...
RMS Estimates that Total Insured Losses from the 2020 Western U.S. Wildfires Will Be Between US$7bn – US$13bn
Dec 17 2020 // Latest RMS estimate includes loss from new fires that started and spread following the previous RMS loss estimate in September Newark, CA – December 15, 2020 – RMS, the world’s leading catastrophe risk solutions...
Oregon Wildfire Hazardous Waste Cleanup Complete
Dec 15 2020 // The Environmental Protection Agency said it has completed the cleanup of household hazardous waste from properties burned in Oregon wildfires. The September fires led to an initial EPA response in Jackson County, which...
RMS Says Insured Losses from 2020 Western U.S. Wildfires $7-$13B
Dec 15 2020 // RMS estimates insured losses from the record-breaking western U.S. wildfires this season will be between $7 and $13 billion. These losses reflect estimates as of Dec. 1. The ignition of the highly damaging Glass Fire and...
California Wildfire Survivors Urged to Call FEMA Helpline by Dec. 16
Dec 11 2020 // People with losses due to the California wildfires in Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, Napa, San Bernardino, San Diego, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sonoma counties have just five days left to register for federal...
Analysts Say Cat Models Would Encourage Wildfire Mitigation Measures
Dec 11 2020 // Predictive modelers told California regulators on Thursday that the state’s antiquated rules for calculating wildfire risk when setting property insurance rates discourage innovative mitigation measures that could...
Family of Pilot Killed Fighting California Wildfire Sues Aircraft Companies
Dec 11 2020 // The family of a veteran helicopter pilot who died when his aircraft crashed as he was dropping water over a California wildfire filed suit Wednesday against the companies that designed and maintained the aircraft. Michael...
2020 Western U.S. Wildfire Season Gave Us Gigafire, Several Massive Blazes
Dec 8 2020 // Want more proof that 2020 will go down as a year we should all try hard to forget about? With some 9 million acres burned in wildfires across Western U.S. this year, and the introduction of a new and terrifying term...
PG&E Rate Hike in California Aimed at Easing Wildfire Risk
Dec 7 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric’s household customers will be hit with an average rate increase of 8% to help the once-bankrupt utility pay for improvements designed to reduce the risks that its outdated equipment will...
Wind Whips up Wildfire in California Canyons, Residents Flee
Dec 4 2020 // Powerful gusts pushed flames from a wildfire through Southern California canyons on Thursday, one of several blazes that burned near homes and forced residents to flee amid elevated fire risk for most of the region that...
Many Californians Being Left Without Homeowners Insurance Due to Wildfire Risk
Dec 4 2020 // Acquiring home insurance has long been a mundane but necessary chore. In California, for hundreds of thousands of residents, it’s turned into a labyrinthine quest that leaves people with expensive, bare-bones...
California Regulator Raising Concern with PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Measures
Nov 25 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission has raised concerns over certain deficiencies that it says could affect PG&E Corp.’s ability to provide safe and reliable service, the power provider disclosed in a...
