wildfires News

Alberta Wildfires Set to Veer from Oil Sands Operations, Spreading More Slowly

Wildfires raging through Alberta are set to move away from the main oil-sands facilities north of Fort McMurray after knocking out an estimated 1 million barrels of production from Canada’s energy hub. A cold front scheduled to pass through the …

Alberta Wildfire Insured Losses Could Total $7.3B, Covering Area Bigger Than NYC

The wildfires ravaging Canada’s oil hub in northern Alberta have rapidly spread to an area bigger than New York city, prompting the air lift of more than 8,000 evacuees as firefighters seek to salvage critical infrastructure. The inferno around Fort …

Alberta Wildfire Could Become Canada’s Costliest Natural Catastrophe

A wildfire in the Alberta city of Fort McMurray is set to become the costliest ever Canadian natural disaster for insurers, with 1,600 buildings destroyed and another 19,000 under threat, analysts and industry sources say. The bill for insurers is …

Update: Canadian Wildfire Rages, Leading to Evacuation of 80,000 People

Fire raged unchecked through the Canadian city of Fort McMurray overnight as authorities raced to complete the evacuation of its population of 80,000, fearful that hot, dry winds forecast for Wednesday would further fan the flames. About 44,000 people were …

Cameras Trained on Mountains around Lake Tahoe Help Wildfire Battle

A growing network of cameras trained on the mountains around Lake Tahoe is changing the way crews fight Western wildfires by allowing early detection that triggers quicker, cheaper, more tactical suppression than traditional war-like operations, experts said this week. The …

Budget Cuts Hamper Ability of Kansas Forest Service to Fight Fires

The Kansas Forest Service has faced budget constraints as it works to deal with wildfires, including the largest in state history that scorched hundreds of square miles of land last month. Larry Biles, director of the Kansas Forest Service, told …

New Mexico Weather Creating Dangerous Wildfires Conditions

Authorities are warning that weather conditions across much of New Mexico are creating conditions ripe for dangerous wildfires. A red flag warning has been issued for portions of southern, central and eastern New Mexico due to strong winds and low …

Fire Warning Covers more than Half of Oklahoma’s Counties

More than half the counties in Oklahoma are under a red flag warning as extreme fire conditions are expected through today. Oklahoma Forestry Services officials say the warning affects 44 counties — particularly in northwestern Oklahoma, where some wind gusts …

Alaska’s M7.1 Quake Puts Focus on State’s Emergency Preparedness

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Alaska’s most populous region has renewed focus on the state’s readiness to deal with a natural disaster. And it’s not just earthquakes that pose a danger across the vast state but also wildfires, floods, landslides …

Insured Nat Cat Losses 31% Below Average During 2015: Aon Benfield Report

Global natural disasters in 2015 caused a combined total insured loss of $35 billion – 31 percent below the 15-year average of $51 billion and the lowest annual insured loss total since 2009, said a report issued by Impact Forecasting, …