wildfires News

SBA Offers Low-interest Wildfire Disaster Loans to Washington Businesses

The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest disaster loans to Washington businesses, nonprofits and residents affected by the wildfires. The federal agency has declared its own disaster declaration to make the loans available in Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, King, …

New Mexico Jury Holds Utility Companies Partially Liable for Fire

A jury decided this week that two utility companies hold most of the liability in one of the largest wildfires in New Mexico’s recorded history. Jurors gave their verdict in Bernalillo following a weekslong trial that centered on whether Jemez …

Washington Wildfire Disaster Declaration Approved by President

President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster exists in the state of Washington following this summer’s wildfires and mudslides. The disaster declaration makes federal money available to state and local governments as well as Native American tribes to repair …

Aspen Estimates Tianjin Explosion to Cost $30 Million; Nat Cats Total $20 Million

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited estimates its Aspen Re subsidiary lost approximately $50 million from the August 12 explosion in the Port of Tianjin, China, and from natural catastrophes during the third quarter of 2015. Approximately $30 million of these …

Climate Change Means Wildfire Seasons May Continue: Professor

The drought-plagued western U.S. has had more than its share of fires this year – but this may not be the last year that the nation sees so many wildfires gone wild. A Yale University professor looking back over the …

California Gas and Electric Company Seeks to Split Costs on Uninsured Fire

San Diego Gas and Electric is seeking authority to bill its customers $379 million for legal settlement costs left over from 2007 wildfires that destroyed 1,300 homes and killed two people. In filings with state regulators Friday, SDG&E said customers …

California Blazes Destroy 2,000-plus Homes, Curb Insurer Appetites

A pair of massive California wildfires that have destroyed more than 2,000 structures are now considered among the most damaging fires in state history, and they could change the way insurers view risk or conduct underwriting in rural areas in …

Bloomberg View: California’s Wildfires Didn’t Have to Be So Extreme

Warming temperatures and a historic drought made Northern California’s Valley fire faster to spread and harder to fight. But the bigger culprit, sadly but thankfully, was something under human control: forest mismanagement. There are five times as many trees per …

California Wildfires Destruction Total Now Tops 1,000 Homes

It has been several days since two huge wildfires in Northern California peaked in their ferocity, yet the damage they did is still being revealed daily. The tally of homes destroyed topped 1,000 on Saturday after authorities assessing damage in …

Massive Northern California Wildfire Destroys 400 Homes and Businesses

Two fast-burning wildfires overtook several Northern California towns, killing at least one person and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses and sending thousands of residents fleeing highways lined with buildings, guardrails and cars still in flames. The California Department of …