Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
PG&E Seeks Court Approval for $105M Fund to Aid California Wildfire Victims
May 2 2019 // PG&E Corp. is seeking court approval for a $105 million fund to help house victims of the wildfires blamed on the bankrupt California power provider. PG&E in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco on...
PG&E Still Has No Estimate on Compensating California Wildfire Victims
May 1 2019 // Pacific Gas & Electric Corp.’s top financial executives said during a bankruptcy meeting Monday they still haven’t determined when the utility can start compensating victims of recent wildfires started by...
L.A. County Sues Southern California Edison for Wildfire Damage
Apr 29 2019 // Los Angeles County sued Southern California Edison and parent company Edison International on Thursday to recover more than $100 million in costs and damages from a wind-driven wildfire that may have been sparked by one of...
PG&E Behind on Tree Work in California a Month from Wildfire Season
Apr 29 2019 // California is just one month away from the official start of wildfire season and bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp. is running behind on inspections, repairs and tree-trimming that was ordered up to reduce the risk of...
Expert Discusses Potential Solutions to Ease the Pain of California’s Severe Wildfires
Apr 26 2019 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv James Woods has his sights set on finding ways to help California deal with repeated years of severe wildfire seasons, and the prospect of more seasons in which record losses from large...
PG&E Asks California for Higher Rates to Pay for Wildfire Safety, Profits
Apr 26 2019 // California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. is asking state regulators for another increase in rates and profits, saying it’s needed for wildfire safety and to attract investment as the utility goes through...
PG&E Can Pay Employees $350M to Meet Safety Goals After California Wildfires
Apr 24 2019 // PG&E Corp. can pay employees up to $350 million in bonuses this year to spur them to help meet the bankrupt California power provider’s safety goals to prevent wildfires, a judge said on Tuesday. PG&E’s...
California Wildfires Helped Drive Homeowners Premium Volume in Surplus Lines
Apr 23 2019 // Wildfires have evidently been driving more Californians into the surplus lines market, pushing up homeowners surplus premium volume to more than $122 million in 2018, according to the Surplus Line Association of...
Washington Official Wants to Raise Insurance Tax to Help Fight Wildfires
Apr 15 2019 // With an increasing number of forest fires scorching portions of Washington each year, the Legislature is considering a proposal to create a fund dedicated to preventing and battling wildfires. In March, Commissioner of...
FEMA Accused of Wrongly Releasing Data of California Wildfire Victims
Apr 15 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud...
California’s Governor Proposes Wildfire Fund, Seeks PG&E Fix
Apr 14 2019 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom gave legislators just three months to address a multibillion-dollar wildfire liability problem that has forced the state’s largest power company, PG&E Corp., into bankruptcy and...
Don’t Count on Home Insurance to Cover Cost of Rebuilding: Viewpoint
Apr 12 2019 // Own a home? No doubt you’ve insured it. Very sensible of you. But if that home were, say, burned to the ground, then your insurance company probably wouldn’t cover the cost of rebuilding it. Don’t feel...
Insurers Oppose Premium Tax to Fund Washington’s Wildfire Prevention
Apr 9 2019 // Lobbyists for the property/casualty insurance industry are trying to prevent a $125 million jump in the state of Washington’s insurance premium tax that would fund wildfire prevention and suppression. The tax would...
Defective Electrical Panel Caused 2017 Wildfire in California’s Butte County
Apr 7 2019 // An investigation has determined that a July 2017 wildfire that destroyed more than 40 homes in Northern California was sparked by a defective electrical panel at a Butte County home. The state Department of Forestry and...
California Weighs Catastrophic Wildfire Fund as Way to Protect Utilities
Apr 5 2019 // Creation of a catastrophic wildfire risk pool is emerging as the most likely option as California lawmakers seek to protect the solvency of investor-owned utilities from record payouts for fire damages. PG&E filed for...
Judge Tells PG&E to Hold Dividends to Pay to Help Reduce Wildfire Risks
Apr 3 2019 // A U.S. judge said on Tuesday that PG&E Corp. cannot resume dividends and must use the money to reduce wildfire risk in California, stopping short of more costly measures he proposed earlier this year. The new criminal...
Hurricane Michael Debris Fueling Wildfire in Florida Panhandle
Apr 2 2019 // Nearly two dozen Florida homes have been evacuated because of a 500-acre wildfire that grew rapidly overnight because of downed trees from Hurricane Michael. Authorities say the fire broke out Saturday in the Panhandle...
FEMA Accused of Wrongly Releasing Data of California Wildfire Victims
Apr 1 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud...
California Commissioner Yet to Move on Petition from Climate Activists for More Insurer Regs
Mar 28 2019 // Nobody’s saying much as California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara considers how he will respond to a petition submitted by climate change activists urging him to place new regulations on insurers to disclose...
How One Company, AT&T, Is Using Models to Prepare for Natural Disaster Costs
Mar 28 2019 // By 2050, residents of southern Florida could become familiar with storms borne on 90-mph winds. Water levels during floods will rise by an average of 5 percent across the Southeast. And it will not be out of the ordinary...
