These are the United States most costly wildfires
Hollywood screenwriter Mark Victor talks about how the California wildfires have affected his life in Claman Countdown.
Los Angeles is battling multiple wildfires that have destroyed homes and businesses as they raged through the Southern California city.
A report from JP Morgan said Thursday that “expectations for economic losses from the fires have more than doubled since yesterday to more than $50 billion,” estimating insured losses “could top $20 billion (and even more if the fires go unchecked).
That, according to JPMorgan analysts, would make California’s ongoing wildfires “significantly more severe than the 2018 Butte County Campfires, previously the highest insured wildfires in California history.”
California wildfires could cost INSURERS $20 billion, the highest in state history.
Many forest fires were active on Thursday evening Los Angeles Countyincluding three that were 0% contained, the CalFire website showed.At least five people lost their lives.
TOPSHOT – Smoke plumes are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California, January 7, 2025. A fast-moving fire in a Los Angeles suburb burned buildings and prompted evacuations on Tuesday as “life-threatening” winds lashed the region. (via DAVID SWANSON/AFP Getty Images/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that more than 7,500 fire and emergency personnel are working fighting fire.
Four of the five costliest wildfires the US has seen were in California. according to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) data.
Camp Fire
PARADISE, CA – NOVEMBER 27: A classic car was seen destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California on Tuesday, November 27. Hazardous materials, ha (Anda Chu/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
The campfire started on November 8, 2018 and raged on the 17 days In Northern California, its fire caused $12.4 billion in inflation-adjusted damages, the NFPA reported.
The fire burned through more than 153,300 acres, destroying 18,800 homes, buildings and commercial properties, per CalFire. It destroyed nearly all of Paradise.
About 52,000 people were evacuated during the Camp Fire.
As it raged, 85 people died. CalFire considers it the deadliest wildfire in the Golden State.
Tubbs Fire
CALISTOGA, Calif. – OCTOBER 12: CalFire firefighters monitor a fire operation as they battle the Tubbs Fire near Calistoga, California on October 12, 2017. At least 31 people have died in wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Inflation-adjusted cost of Tubbs Fire damage to Napa and Sonoma counties in California In 2017, it was about $11.05 billion, according to the NFPA.
The fire occurred during the “fire siege of October 2017.” That was when more than 170 fires were seen in Northern California.
The Tubbs fire “was caused by a private electrical system adjacent to a residential building,” CalFire said in 2019. It killed 22 people.
Lahaina Fire
An aerial view shows burned-out cars and homes in a neighborhood devastated by a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on August 18, 2023. At least 111 people have died and thousands have been displaced after wind-driven wildfires ravaged towns. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
On The Lahaina Fire Hawaii Island It took place in Maui in August 2023. The number of dead was 101.
“The cause of the fire was the reactivation of broken utility lines, which caused molten metal material (sparks) to fall into the base of pole 25, igniting the unprotected vegetation below.
A power line between poles 25 and 24 caused the line to fall to the ground.
Vegetation below,” the Maui County Fire and Public Safety Department said in a report. “The continuation of the fire was caused by a hidden piece of smoldering material that made its way through an undetermined amount of fuel to the package located in a gully to the east and south of the existing burn area.’
Initial inflation-adjusted losses from the fire were $6.18 billion, the NFPA said.
Woolsey Fire
MALIBU, CA – NOVEMBER 10: Los Angeles County firefighters attack a fire approaching Salvation Army camps during the Woolsey Fire near Malibu, California on November 10, 2018. The Woolsey Fire has burned more than 70,000 acreage (David McNew/Getty Images)
The Woolsey Fire cost $5.2 billion on an inflation-adjusted basis, according to NFPA.CalFire reported that the 2018 inferno affected more than 96,900 acres in California.
The National Park Service said 88% of the land it manages in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has burned.
Tunnel / Oakland Hills Fire
According to the NFPA, a 2,900-acre tunnel fire in California’s Oakland Hills region in 1991 caused $3.893 billion in inflation-adjusted losses.
BUSINESS LEADERS RESPOND TO CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES.
About 1,500 Northern California firefighters were involved in efforts to extinguish the blaze at its worst, according to the East Bay Regional Park District.
How many wildfires occur in the United States each year?
The U.S. faces tens of thousands of wildfires each year, with nearly 56,600 reported in 2023. The previous year saw nearly 69,000.
Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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