California wildfires News

Paradise Struggles to Rebuild Amid High Home Insurance Costs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Heidi Lange was among the first to rebuild after the deadliest wildfire in California history destroyed her home in 2018 along with much of the town of Paradise. After the fire, she got divorced, which left …

PG&E Pledges $18 Billion to Cut Wildfire Risk in California

PG&E Corp. plans to invest $18 billion in wildfire prevention through 2025 following back-to-back seasons of devastating blazes linked to the utility’s network of wires and other equipment. PG&E will bury more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) of wires, install …

Report Forecasts ‘Above-Normal’ U.S. Wildfire Season, Worse in Drought-Plagued West

The U.S. has in store an “above-normal” wildfire season if a prediction out on Wednesday from fire weather experts holds true – “intense” may be a better word for the expectations in Western region. Early predictions for the 2022 fire …

PG&E’s Criminal Probation to End Amid Ongoing Safety Worries

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)–Pacific Gas & Electric is poised to emerge from five years of criminal probation, despite worries that nation’s largest utility remains too dangerous to trust after years of devastation from wildfires ignited by its outdated equipment and neglectful …

California Utility Says its Equipment May Be Linked to Fire

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric equipment may have been involved in the start of the big Dixie Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada, the nation’s largest utility reported to California regulators. PG&E said in a report Sunday …

Travelers Profit Rises With Higher Premiums, Lower Costs

Oct 20 — Property and casualty insurer Travelers Companies Inc beat third-quarter profit expectations on Tuesday, helped by higher premiums, lower costs and an increase in returns from non-fixed income investments. The New York-based company, seen as a bellwether for …

Hurricane Laura and the California Fires Are Part of the Same Crisis

As Hurricane Laura pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast with nearly 150 mile-per-hour winds, causing water levels to rise almost 10 feet above normal in the wee hours of the morning, wildfires in California were still raging across more than a …

Baupost Collects $3 Billion Wagering on PG&E’s Wildfire Claims

Baupost Group, the hedge fund run by Seth Klarman, received more than $3 billion in July from its bet on insurance claims against PG&E Corp. connected to a series of deadly California wildfires, according to people with knowledge of the …

Financial Tug-of-War Emerges over Fire Victims’ Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — A financial tug-of-war is emerging over the $13.5 billion that the nation’s largest utility has agreed to pay to victims of recent California wildfires, as government agencies jockey for more than half the money to cover the …

Industry Representative Puts Fire Insurance Availability at Feet of Commissioner

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will have to choose whether he wants insurers to charge higher rates or to stop writing homeowners insurance in fire-prone areas, an industry representative said following new wildfire directives announced by the commissioner. Lara on …