Latest Wildfire Headlines

All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Largest Wildfire in Oregon Prompts New Evacuations

Jul 16 2021 // Firefighters are scrambling to control a raging wildfire in southeastern Oregon that’s spreading miles a day in windy conditions, one of numerous conflagrations across the U.S. West that are straining...

Western Wildfires Threatening Parched Tribal Lands

Jul 15 2021 // Fierce wildfires in the northwest are threatening American Indian tribal lands that already are struggling to conserve water and preserve traditional hunting grounds in the face of a Western drought.Blazes in Oregon and...

Pandemic Part of a Perfect Storm for Insurers, Homeowners Bracing for Bad Wildfire Season

Jul 14 2021 // A perfect storm appears to brewing for homeowners and property insurers in the drought-plagued, wildfire-riddled U.S. West – and as odd as it may sound, the trouble may have begun with the pandemic.Property insurance...

Cal/OSHA: Protect Workers from Unhealthy Air due to Wildfire Smoke

Jul 13 2021 // Cal/OSHA is cautioning California employers to be prepared to protect workers from unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke.When workers are at risk form unhealthy air from wildfires, California’s protection from wildfire...

Wildfires Burning Homes, Land Across 10 States in West

Jul 13 2021 // Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened a portion of California’s power supply.Nearly 60 wildfires tore through...

Canada Orders Rail Transport Restrictions in Areas with High Wildfire Risk

Jul 12 2021 // OTTAWA – Canada on Sunday ordered rail transport restrictions for areas where there is a high wildfire risk after a blaze wiped out the town of Lytton, British Columbia, and killed two people earlier this month.The order...

Heat Wave Blankets West as Wildfires Rage in Several States

Jul 12 2021 // Firefighters struggled to contain an exploding Northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave blanketed the West, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.Death Valley...

California Seeing More Wildfires So Far Than in Disastrous 2020

Jul 9 2021 // The number of wildfires and amount of land burned in parched California so far this year greatly exceed totals for the same period in the disastrous wildfire year of 2020.Between Jan. 1 and July 4, there were 4,599 fires...

Washington Governor Declares Wildfire State of Emergency, Burn Ban

Jul 8 2021 // Gov. Jay Inslee this week declared a state of emergency throughout Washington relating to the growing risk of wildfires, including a statewide prohibition on most outdoor and agricultural burning through Sept. 30.“We...

Following Years of Deadly Wildfires, PG&E Again Vows to Do Better

Jul 7 2021 // The nation’s largest utility has long vowed to change its reckless ways, but year after year there’s more death and destruction from Northern California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric’s...

Record High Temperatures Hit Nordic Region, Arctic Circle, Adding to Wildfire Dangers

Jul 7 2021 // Record-high temperatures from Canada to Scandinavia and intense wildfires flaring up from California to Russia’s Far East are adding to extreme weather events recorded at the start of the summer in the Northern...

California’s Coming Wildfire Season Points to Potential Non-Renewals Ahead for Homeowners

Jul 6 2021 // By all accounts the California wildfire season continues to shape up to be a bad one, and another catastrophe modeling firm has reported sales of their products picking up due in part to carriers and reinsurers looking for...

Containment of Northern California Wildfires Grows, Wind a Concern

Jul 6 2021 // Containment of three big wildfires in Northern California has increased but potential for a new round of winds this week was a concern, authorities said Monday.Containment of the 39-square-mile Lava Fire at the foot of...

Grim California Wildfire Outlook Has Insurers Forking Over Big Bucks for Modeling

Jul 5 2021 // Severe drought and searing temperatures are not the only proof that Californians should be worried about wildfires this year.A glaring piece of evidence that there’s ample cause for concern is this: those who will be...

PG&E in California Seeks $3.6B in Rate Hikes for Wildfire Safety

Jul 2 2021 // Pacific Gas & Electric asked regulators Wednesday to grant a $3.6 billion rate hike to help it pay for hardening its power systems to prevent deadly wildfires.The nation’s largest electric utility requested the...

California Firefighters Battling Growing Wildfires

Jul 1 2021 // Hundreds of firefighters labored this week in high heat on the lines of big wildfires in the forests of far northern California as many communities remained under lengthening evacuation orders.Mount Shasta, the volcano...

Researchers Use Drones to Help Forecast Fires as Wildfires Hit Western U.S.

Jul 1 2021 // In a grassy meadow outside Missoula, Montana, Jennifer Fowler eyes two drones high in the sky with weather instruments — part of a program to see how drones can help to fight and monitor wildfires.Missoula is a major...

Northern California Wildfire Forces Evacuation Orders

Jun 30 2021 // A wildfire in Northern California has grown significantly and begun to pose a threat communities. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders Monday for the Lake Shastina and Juniper Valley...

Wildfire Risk Creeping Higher in Montana Parks

Jun 29 2021 // The risk of wildfires is growing with more warm, dry weather in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.The fire danger in Yellowstone is rated as “high” and in Grand Teton it’s “very...

Wildfire Resilience Efforts Are Improving: Triple-I Panelists

Jun 29 2021 // Panelists convened by the Insurance Information Institute and ResilientH20 Partners agreed that resilience is building due to technological advances and greater awareness about how wildfires spread.In the latest...