Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: California Wildfires Will Get Worse, Blame Climate Change
Jul 18 2019 // Hot, dry weather in California has resulted in a dramatic increase in wildfires. It will get worse – and you can blame climate change, according to a new report out. The report, Observed impacts of anthropogenic climate...
California Legislators Approve $21 Billion Liability Fund for Utilities
Jul 12 2019 // California lawmakers approved legislation on Thursday to create a $21 billion fund to help utilities in the state pay for claims arising from future wildfires sparked by their equipment, tackling a top issue for the...
PG&E Pushes for Tax-Exempt Bond Bill for Fire Claims
Jul 12 2019 // PG&E Corp. is lobbying California legislators to allow it to issue tax-exempt bonds to help pay for past and future wildfire claims, according to people familiar with the matter. The bankrupt utility is pushing...
Judge Wants PG&E to Respond to Report It Knew Faulty Lines Could Cause Wildfires
Jul 10 2019 // PG&E Corp. was ordered by a federal judge overseeing its probation to respond to a Wall Street Journal story claiming the utility knew its power lines could cause wildfires and failed to perform upgrades. PG&E...
California Wildfire ‘Bailout’ for PG&E, Edison Clears Hurdle
Jul 10 2019 // Utility giants PG&E Corp. and Edison International are one step closer to getting California’s help in covering the costs of increasingly catastrophic wildfires that their equipment keeps igniting. The state...
Wildfire Help for PG&E, Edison May Not Be Ready When California Lawmakers Adjourn July 12
Jul 8 2019 // California’s biggest utilities, PG&E Corp., Edison International and Sempra Energy, may not get the help they need to deal with multi-billion dollar wildfire liabilities before lawmakers adjourn July 12 for...
Officials Say 4 Wildfires in North-Central Nevada Were All Human Caused
Jul 3 2019 // The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says four separate wildfires that broke out in north-central Nevada this week all were caused by humans. The fires that began on Tuesday near Interstate 80 between Lovelock and Winnemucca...
Hot Weather May Fuel South-Central Alaska Wildfire, Some Residents Evacuate
Jul 2 2019 // Meteorologists say a new wave of hot, dry weather is expected to fuel a wildfire burning on the Kenai Peninsula, and continued smoke and record-breaking temperatures are predicted for the Fourth of July holiday week across...
Proposed California Wildfire Board Could Operate Partly in Secret
Jul 1 2019 // A closely watched wildfire law proposed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom would exempt a new safety board from some of the state’s government transparency laws. The Wildfire Safety Advisory Board would advise the...
PG&E in California Wants to Securitize Some Profits to Cover Wildfire Costs
Jul 1 2019 // PG&E Corp. is lobbying for legislation that would allow the bankrupt California utility giant to securitize some of its profits to pay for past wildfire liabilities, people familiar with the matter said. PG&E was...
PG&E Power Line Blamed for Sparking Small California Wildfire
Jun 28 2019 // A downed Pacific Gas & Electric power line is blamed for sparking a wildfire in eastern Monterey County, Calif. this week. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the 2,456-acre blaze that...
Poll: Majority of Americans Say Global Warming is Affecting U.S. Weather
Jun 27 2019 // The majority of Americans say global warming is important to them, and that it’s affecting the weather in the U.S. A national survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University...
Sweltering Heatwave in Germany Sparks Wildfires, Forces Speed Cut on Autobahn
Jun 27 2019 // A blistering heatwave prompted Germany to impose speed restrictions on usually limit-free stretches of its high-speed motorways Wednesday, the latest sign of extreme weather events ruffling Europe’s largest...
Jump in Western U.S. Wildfires Means Smoke’s Health Impact Will Spread
Jun 26 2019 // Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will affect tens of millions of people and cause premature deaths to spike. That’s...
Bondholders Propose Bankruptcy Exit Plan Up to $30B for PG&E
Jun 26 2019 // A committee of bondholders of PG&E Corp.’s utility unit on Tuesday proposed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that would inject up to $30 billion to help the California power provider emerge from Chapter 11 and...
California Governor Wants Wildfire Fund to Help Utilities
Jun 21 2019 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pressing lawmakers on a wildfire fund that may be financed through bonds to help utilities pay for the catastrophic blazes their power lines keep igniting, according to people familiar with...
How PG&E’s $1B to Local Governments for Wildfire Damage Will be Paid
Jun 20 2019 // A California utility agreed Tuesday to pay $1 billion to 14 local governments to cover damages from a series of deadly wildfires caused by its downed power lines. The settlement is a sliver of the more than $30 billion in...
PG&E Settles for $1B with Local Governments for California Fire Claims
Jun 19 2019 // PG&E Corp. will pay $1 billion as part of its bankruptcy reorganization to more than a dozen local governments in California struck by wildfires in recent years, the company and lawyers for the governments said on...
Underwriters Get Picky: 5 Trends to Watch in Construction Insurance
Jun 17 2019 // Construction insurance specialists say their insurance market is strong with plenty of capacity and underwriters competing for the best accounts. According to specialists interviewed by Insurance Journal for their...
Nevada Attorney General Recommends $25M Wildfire Settlement
Jun 14 2019 // Nevada’s attorney general is recommending approval of a $25 million settlement with homeowners and insurance companies who sought more than $300 million in damages from the state after a fire destroyed 24 homes south...
