Latest Wildfire Headlines

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

Wildfire Relief for PG&E in California May Not Include Fix Utility Wants

Nov 26 2018 // PG&E Corp., suspected of starting California’s deadliest wildfire, may soon get help from state lawmakers – just not the help it most wants.As early as Dec. 3, a lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would...

Report by 13 U.S. Agencies Warns of Dire Economic Effects from Climate Change

Nov 25 2018 // As California’s catastrophic wildfires recede and people rebuild after two hurricanes, a massive new federal report warns that these types of disasters are worsening in the United States because of global warming....

A.M. Best Assesses Wildfires’ Effect on Home Insurance Market, Insurers’ PG&E Exposure

Nov 20 2018 // Roughly one-in-10 insurers have exposures to PG&E bonds, which could potentially used to payout on losses from the California wildfires, according to ratings agency A.M. Best.It was recently determined that a second...

PG&E’s $1.4B in Wildfire Insurance May Not Be Enough, But Was ‘Regular Amount’

Nov 20 2018 // PG&E Corp.’s $1.4 billion in wildfire insurance may not be enough to cover all its potential liabilities from the deadliest blaze in California history. But the company wasn’t necessarily skimping on...

Lawmaker in California Working on Fire Relief Legislation for PG&E

Nov 20 2018 // A bill that would help PG&E Corp. absorb liabilities from this year’s fatal wildfires in California is being drafted at the request of a state assemblyman who helped shepherd earlier legislation on the...

Latest Estimates of Insured Losses from California Wildfires at $9B to $13B

Nov 19 2018 // Insured losses from the Camp and Woolsey wildfires in California will be between $9 billion and $13 billion, according to the latest estimates from catastrophe modeler RMS.RMS’ latest estimates released on Monday...

PG&E Says There Was Another Outage on Morning of California Wildfire

Nov 19 2018 // California utility PG&E Corp , facing investor concerns over its possible role in the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California, has reported another power-line outage that it experienced on the morning of Nov. 8 when...

$8.6B Worth of Homes at High or Extreme Risk from California Fires

Nov 16 2018 // A report out on Friday shows 23,044 homes with a total reconstruction cost value of $8.6 billion are at high or extreme risk of wildfire damage within the perimeters of the Camp Fire in Northern California and the Woolsey...

S&P Says Insurers and Reinsurers Can Absorb Losses from California Wildfires

Nov 16 2018 // S&P Global Ratings expects both the primary insurers and reinsurers to be able to absorb losses from the California wildfires, limiting them to an earnings event.However, the mounting bills from more frequents large...

Insurance Industry Kept Promises to Hurricane Victims; Now Tested by Wildfires

Nov 16 2018 // Between the devastating wildfires in California and the destructive forces of Hurricanes Florence and Michael on the East Coast earlier this fall, the property/casualty insurance market has been put to the test this...

Insurance Agent at Heart of Heartbreaking California Wildfire

Nov 14 2018 // Derek Ross has his hands full with the Woolsey Fire in Southern California for three reasons.He’s an insurance agent with numerous clients affected, he’s the president of the board of a school district...

PG&E’s Camp Wildfire Liabilities Could Exceed Renewed Insurance

Nov 14 2018 // Shares of utility PG&E Corp. fell 18 percent on Wednesday after the company warned of liquidity concerns if its equipment was found responsible for starting the Camp wildfire currently raging in California.The company...

Solutions to Wildfires in Time of Climate Change Are Costly, Unpopular

Nov 14 2018 // California’s deadly wildfires have a straightforward solution, experts say: stop building homes in places that are likely to burn — and make homes that already exist in those areas a whole lot tougher.That...

How Insurance Industry Might React to ‘New Normal’ of California’s Historic Wildfires

Nov 13 2018 // The “new normal” for California has yielded another year of record wildfires and billions of dollars in insured losses. Homeowners insurance rates inch up in high risk areas, and carriers get more cautious...

Will California See More Laws and Regulations in Wake of Wildfires?

Nov 13 2018 // Last year’s California wildfires destroyed thousands of homes and cost billions of dollars, but they also created numerous new laws and regulations in their wake as Legislators and insurance regulators looked for...

California Utilities Face Potential of Billion Dollar Wildfires Year After Year

Nov 13 2018 // California utilities are facing the very real possibility that billion-dollar blazes could become an annual occurrence, and they don’t know how to pay for them.Shares of the state’s two largest utilities...

Insurers’ Firefighting Teams Move to Limit Damage from California Wildfires

Nov 13 2018 // California’s raging wildfires are so bad that American International Group Inc. and Chubb Ltd. are deploying teams of specialists and former firefighters to spray retardants on homes. The season may soon rank among...

California Wildfire Insured Losses at Billions of Dollars and Climbing

Nov 12 2018 // An analysis by catastrophe modeler RMS shows 15 wildfires are burning more than 280,000 acres in California have collectively destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and businesses and killed 31 people.Roughly 300,000 have been...

Deaths, Damages Continue to Rise in California’s Most Destructive Wildfires

Nov 12 2018 // The most destructive wildfires in California’s history have killed at least 31 people and forced tens of thousands more to evacuate as firefighters struggle to gain control amid swirling winds.The so-called Camp Fire...

California Wildfire Update: Thousands Flee, More Than 50K Without Power

Nov 9 2018 // Fanned by hot, dry winds, wildfires north of San Francisco and near Los Angeles have forced the evacuation of more than 150,000 people in the state, including Malibu, the coastal enclave of the rich and famous.The fires...