WILDFIRES WON’T QUIT

September 4, 2000

Nearly 65,000 wildfires have burned more than 4.3 million acres this year, causing an estimated $100 million in insured property damage, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). Currently, 82 wildfires are ravaging roughly one million acres in 13 Western states, and the insured losses could be as high as $25 million. According to the I.I.I., standard business, homeowners and auto policies will cover damage and destruction resulting from these wildfires. Due to the number of catastrophe-related losses over the past decade, the cost of homeowners insurance has risen considerably in many disaster-prone areas.