Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
PG&E Vows to Improve Wildfire Prevention
Feb 8 2019 // The nation’s largest utility is promising to overhaul its wildfire-prevention measures in response to growing legal, financial and public pressure over its role in starting some of the most destructive blazes in...
Boeing Sued for Negligence in Southern California Wildfire
Feb 7 2019 // Boeing Co. was accused of negligence tied to a wildfire that tore through Malibu, California, in November and that purportedly started on the grounds of the nearby, disused Rocketdyne testing site. A group of homeowners...
PG&E Could Kill Lights to Customers When California Wildfires Occur
Feb 7 2019 // Anyone who gets power from PG&E Corp. could see their lights go out this fire season. Even the millions of Californians who live outside risky areas could be left in the dark under a sweeping proposal the utility filed...
California Fire Safe Council Announces 2019 Officers and Board
Feb 5 2019 // The California Fire Safe Council on Tuesday announced a list of new officers of the board of directors. Jerry Davies has been elected to a fifth term as chairman of the CFSC board. Davies is a founding member of CFSC and a...
Thousands of Lawsuits Demanding PG&E Pay for Damages from Wildfires
Feb 5 2019 // Some 1,000 lawsuits have been filed since late 2017 demanding Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation pay for damages caused by wildfires. The lawsuits represent thousands of people, companies, cities and counties affected...
Bankruptcy Won’t End Problem PG&E Must Still Deal With: Wildfires
Feb 4 2019 // Big corporations forced into bankruptcy by liability lawsuits often take the offending product off the market and try to move on. That’s what happened with the Dalkon Shield birth control device, asbestos and...
Expert Ponders California Wildfire Commission, Other Solutions to State’s Severe Seasons
Feb 4 2019 // Establishing a California Wildfire Commission is just one idea an expert is tossing out to help the state deal with worsening fire seasons. James Woods was formerly co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Global Insurance...
AM Best Says Specialty Insurer Exposures to PG&E Bankruptcy Within Risk Appetites
Feb 1 2019 // Specialty companies specifically operating in the utility sector are likely to face substantial claims and losses stemming from the bankruptcy filing by PG&E Corp., the California utility whose equipment is being...
PG&E in California Vows to Keep The Lights on Despite Bankruptcy
Feb 1 2019 // Utility owner PG&E Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday in anticipation of liabilities from California wildfires, including a catastrophic 2018 blaze that killed 86 people. PG&E, which provides...
California Wants Faster Forestry Approvals in Wildfire Fight
Jan 31 2019 // California wildland managers said this week that they want to speed up logging and prescribed burns designed to slow wildfires that have devastated communities in recent years. After the deadliest and most destructive...
Judge Says PG&E Has ‘Clear-Cut’ Pattern of Starting Wildfires
Jan 31 2019 // A federal judge who has emerged as a vocal critic of PG&E Corp.’s safety record, said the California utility giant has a “clear-cut pattern” of starting wildfires and needs “strong...
A Look at PG&E’s Rapid Fall After California Wildfires
Jan 30 2019 // On an unusually warm day in northern California, hot and dry winds whipped through the Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of San Francisco. It was Thursday, Nov. 8, and a “red-flag warning” from the National...
Expert Ponders California Wildfire Commission, Other Solutions to State’s Severe Seasons
Jan 29 2019 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Establishing a California Wildfire Commission is just one idea an expert is tossing out to help the state deal with worsening fire seasons. James Woods was formerly co-leader of Mayer...
PG&E in California Files for Bankruptcy in Wake of Wildfire Liabilities
Jan 29 2019 // Power provider PG&E Corp. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, succumbing to liabilities stemming from wildfires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018. The owner of the biggest U.S. power...
Insured Losses from Last Year’s California Wildfires up to $11.4B
Jan 28 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Monday announced that more than $11.4 billion in insured losses have been reported from the November 2018 fires. That is a 25 percent increase, or more than $2.3 billion,...
PG&E Cleared of Liability in 2017 California Wildfire, Bankruptcy Still Seen
Jan 28 2019 // California fire investigators last week concluded that a major 2017 wildfire was caused by privately owned electrical equipment, prompting the state’s new governor to estimate that PG&E Corp’s potential...
PG&E Erases Settlements with California Victims as Bankruptcy Looms
Jan 28 2019 // As PG&E Corp. prepares to file for bankruptcy, victims of wildfires are getting a preview of how they’re likely to be treated as the utility reorganizes — harshly. Ahead of an expected filing for Chapter 11...
Assessing Effects of Government Shutdown on Wildfires, Workforce, Research
Jan 28 2019 // The government may be reopening, but the consequences of the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history are likely to linger for national parks, forests, the federal workforce and cutting-edge scientific research. Some may...
PG&E Cleared of Liability in Major 2017 Fire; Bankruptcy Still Likely
Jan 25 2019 // California fire investigators on Thursday concluded that a major 2017 wildfire was caused by privately owned electrical equipment, prompting the state’s new governor to estimate that PG&E Corp’s potential...
PG&E: Judge’s Aggressive Fire Prevention Plan Would Cost $150B
Jan 24 2019 // PG&E Corp. estimates it would cost as much as $150 billion this year alone to comply with a federal judge’s proposal to prevent wildfires. California’s largest investor-owned utility said U.S. District...
