California Wildfires News

Opinion: California’s Wildfires Burn Our Climate Illusions

Joan Didion’s “Holy Water,” written in 1977, is a paean to the elaborate engineering that supplied her taps in Malibu and filled drinking glasses in Hollywood restaurants. At its heart is a warning: The apparent ease of California life is …

Filings Show PG&E Delayed Key Power Line Safety Overhaul

Shares of PG&E Corp fell about 3 percent after federal filings showed that the power utility had delayed a safety overhaul of a high-voltage transmission line, a prime suspect behind the deadliest wildfire in California history. The company filed for …

California Weighs Buying Disaster Insurance Policy to Cover Wildfire Costs

California’s insurance commissioner and a lawmaker want to the state to consider buying insurance in the private market to cover rapidly increasing costs of fighting wildfires due to climate change. State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa and California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo …

Firefighters Endangered During California Blaze, New Report Shows

Poor communication, short staffing and infighting among agencies may have endangered firefighters who nearly died during the massive Mendocino Complex of wildfires in Northern California, according to a new report released. The Los Angeles Times reported that staff from three …

PG&E Vows to Improve Wildfire Prevention

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 California history. In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Pacific …

Boeing Sued for Negligence in Southern California Wildfire

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 sued Boeing along with Edison …

PG&E Could Kill Lights to Customers When California Wildfires Occur

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 Wednesday. …

Thousands of Lawsuits Demanding PG&E Pay for Damages from Wildfires

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 by fires. They range from a rancher’s $3,000 …

Bankruptcy Won’t End Problem PG&E Must Still Deal With: Wildfires

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 silicone breast implants. But when the nation’s …

AM Best Says Specialty Insurer Exposures to PG&E Bankruptcy Within Risk Appetites

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 investigated as having a potential role in the recent …