wildfires News

2024 Wildfire Forecast Calls for ‘Below Average’ Season

The approaching wildfire season may bring hazardous air quality from blazes burning across the U.S., but it’s expected to be below the historical average in terms of the number of fires and acres burned. AccuWeather’s forecast for the 2024 wildfire …

Wildfires Are Upending Some of the Safest Bets on Wall Street

When the Texas Panhandle went up in flames this winter, the news spread fast on Wall Street. An electric utility by the name of Xcel Energy Inc. was getting blamed for the massive blaze — a lawsuit pointed the finger …

Texas Among Several States Facing New Fire Risks: Weather Watch

More than 2.5 million people in the US face critical fire weather conditions on Monday as dry winds sweep parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, which had the largest fire in the state’s history earlier this year. …

Europe’s Wildfires in 2023 Were Among Worst This Century: Report

The 2023 wildfire season in the Europe was among the worst this century, according to a European Commission report published on Wednesday. Last year, more than half a million (504,002) hectares, an area twice the size of Luxembourg, was scorched …

US Wildfires Are Getting Bigger and More Complex, Prompting Changes in Firefighting

It’s shaping up to be a long wildfire season, with Texas already seeing its largest blaze in recorded history and firefighters becoming overwhelmed with recent blazes in Virginia. Just in the first three months of the year, more than 2,669 …

Fires From 2023 Smoldering Under Snow Reveal Canada’s Dangerous New Reality

As skiers glide down the slopes of British Columbia’s Whistler Mountain and ice fishers drop their lines into frozen lakes in Alberta, dozens of the fires whose smoke darkened North America’s skies last year are still burning — with some …

California Insurer of Last Resort Is Unprepared for Big Disaster

California’s property insurer of last resort told lawmakers that it’s financially unprepared to cover the costs of a major catastrophe in the state. The plan now faces $311 billion in potential losses, up from $50 billion six years ago, California …

Huge Texas Blaze Shows Power-Line Fires Are a Widespread Threat

Massive wildfires sparked by power lines used to be a California problem, one many utility executives considered safely confined to the Golden State. No more. Texas officials on Thursday blamed the state’s largest-ever fire on electrical lines sparking in dry …

Viewpoint: How Public Adjusters Bridge The Gap in California’s Insurance Landscape

When you consider the types of disaster that might befall a California homeowner, flooding might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But as climate change triggers more erratic weather patterns, bringing more frequent and extreme natural disasters—including …

PacifiCorp Fire Victim Who Leapt in River Awarded $9 Million

A jury ordered a Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co. unit to pay nine homeowners at least $62 million for failing to prevent some Oregon wildfires in 2020, including $9 million for a man who jumped off a cliff into a river …