Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
PG&E’s Bankruptcy Plan Heads Toward Approval in California
Apr 22 2020 // California regulators are being advised to approve Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy with new controls designed to prevent a recurrence of the utility’s past bad behavior that has...
Six Things to Know About the Recent Impasse Between Regulators and Insurers in the Aftermath of California’s Devastating Wildfires
Apr 17 2020 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. California’s 2017 and 2018 catastrophic wildfire events hit state insurers historically hard, with record-breaking losses of over $25 billion.1 2 Three years...
PG&E’s Plan to Pay $19M from California Wildfire Victims Fund OK’d
Apr 16 2020 // The Northern California victims of catastrophic wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric’s decaying electrical grid will have at least $19 million siphoned way from a $13.5 billion fund for their losses to...
What if California Faces a Disaster During The Pandemic?
Apr 14 2020 // California has evacuation plans for earthquakes, floods, mudslides and, of course, wildfires, but what if one of those disasters occurs as the state is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak when everyone is being urged to...
Judge Won’t Approve California Wildfire Victims Letter Attacking PG&E
Apr 9 2020 // A federal judge has refused to put his stamp of approval on a letter to Northern California wildfire victims from attorneys who allege that Pacific Gas & Electric may be breaking its promises as it tries to preserve a...
Market Tumult Threatens PG&E Deal with California Wildfire Victims
Apr 8 2020 // Lawyers who negotiated a crucial $13.5 billion deal for the victims of deadly wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment are expressing serious doubts about whether the nation’s largest utility will be...
Firefighters Work to Contain North Carolina Wildfires
Apr 6 2020 // Firefighters kept working on Saturday to slow the spread of western North Carolina wildfires that have spread due to high winds, the U.S. Forest Service said. A fire that began on private property Friday in Haywood County...
Another Member PG&E California Wildfire Panel Resigns
Apr 6 2020 // The former chief financial officer for a Northern California city destroyed in a 2018 wildfire caused by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment is trying to upend the utility’s plan for getting out of bankruptcy...
Declarations
Apr 6 2020 // Delivery Aid “Insurers must cover delivery services for restaurants on personal auto insurance policies and must offer coverage for hired drivers and non-owned automobiles as a rider on a restaurant’s general...
Regulators Mull Reversing $462M Increase in PG&E’s California Wildfire Fines
Apr 1 2020 // California power regulators are weighing a recommendation to back off plans to fine Pacific Gas and Electric an additional $462 million for igniting a series of Northern California 2018 deadly wildfires rather than risk...
New Mexico to Use Satellite Tracking During Wildfire Season
Apr 1 2020 // New Mexico has a new tool that could help crews get an early jump on any wildfires that might break out. The State Forestry Division will be getting real-time alerts via a satellite tracking system designed by the Santa...
PG&E to Use California Wildfire Victims Fund to Pay for Past Crimes
Mar 30 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric is warning its elaborate plan for getting out of bankruptcy might collapse if the utility can’t pay for its crimes in a deadly Northern California wildfire by taking money away from a fund...
PG&E’s Falling Stock Price Worries California Wildfire Victims Eyeing Deal
Mar 27 2020 // The stock market turmoil triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is raising worries that Pacific Gas & Electric’s $13.5 billion settlement with victims of catastrophic wildfires may be worth far less by the time...
PG&E Will Plead Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter in California Wildfire
Mar 24 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric said it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California that killed 84 people and decimated three towns. The utility said in a...
California Legislative Recess Leaves Wildfire Plan in Limbo
Mar 22 2020 // Californians statewide are huddled at home under a “shelter-in-place” order handed down March 20 by Gov. Gavin Newsom to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Unfortunately, nature does not take a break for...
Report: Climate Change Requires a ‘Rethink’ of How Catastrophic Events are Funded
Mar 19 2020 // Severe weather events and demographic challenges will continue to strain government finances, a trend that will require “a rethink of how catastrophic events are funded” and push the need for greater use of...
Colorado Man And His Insurer to Pay $500K Over 2017 Wildfire
Mar 19 2020 // A Colorado man and his insurance company paid $500,000 to the U.S. government over a wildfire that burned federal land in the state. Dale Owns and Grange Insurance Association made the payment to resolve liability for the...
PG&E Has Settled One Battle Involving California Wildfire Fund
Mar 11 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric told a federal bankruptcy judge that it has settled a dispute with disaster-relief agencies that threatened to siphon money away from a $13.5 billion fund earmarked for victims of catastrophic...
California FAIR Plan Can Offer Only Fire Insurance, Judge Says
Mar 9 2020 // A fund that offers only fire insurance to California residents in wildfire-prone areas can’t be required to provide coverage for other hazards such as flooding or theft, a judge ruled in late February. Superior Court...
California Public Utilities Commission Fines PG&E $2.1B over Wildfires
Mar 9 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission issued an administrative law judge decision imposing $2.137 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the utility’s role in the catastrophic 2017 and...
