Hollywood screenwriter Mark Victor opens up about how the California wildfires affected his life in ‘The Claman Countdown.’
Los Angeles is in the midst of battling several wildfires that have destroyed homes and businesses as they have raged through the Southern California city.
A JP Morgan report said Thursday that “expected economic losses from the fires more than doubled from yesterday to $50 billion,” estimating insured losses “could exceed $20 billion (and even more if the fires are not controlled).
That, according to JPMorgan analysts, will make California’s ongoing wildfires “much more severe than the Butte County Camp fires of 2018, the deadliest wildfire in California’s previous history.”
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As of Thursday evening, several wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County, including three that were 0% contained, the CalFire website said. At least five people lost their lives.
TOPSHOT – A plume of smoke is seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025. A wildfire in the Los Angeles area burned buildings and prompted evacuations Tuesday as “life-threatening” winds lashed the area. (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that more than 7,500 firefighters and emergency workers were battling the flames.
Four of the five costliest wildfires the US has seen were in California, in accordance with data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Camp Fire
PARADISE , CA – NOVEMBER 27: A vintage car destroyed by the Camp Fire is seen in the city of Paradise, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. Many fire safety issues such as downed power lines, road conditions, hazardous materials, ha (Anda Chu/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
Camp Fire appeared on Nov. 8, 2018 and won for 17 years days in Northern California. Its fires caused inflation-adjusted losses of $12.4 billion, the NFPA reported.
The fire has burned through 153,300 acres, destroying 18,800 homes, buildings and commercial properties, per CalFire. It destroyed almost the entire city of Paradise.
About 52,000 people evacuated during the Camp Fire.
During the rampage, 85 people lost their lives. CalFire considers it the worst wildfire the Golden State has experienced.
Tubbs fire
CALISTOGA, CA – OCTOBER 12: CalFire firefighters monitor firefighting operations as they battle the Tubbs Fire on October 12, 2017 near Calistoga, California. At least thirty-one people have died in the wildfire that has burned tens of thousands of hectares (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The inflation-adjusted cost of the Tubbs Fire, which affected Napa and Sonoma Counties in California in 2017, was about $11.05 billion, according to NFPA.
The fire occurred during the “October 2017 Fire Siege.” During that time Northern California saw more than 170 fires.
The Tubbs Fire “was caused by an independent electrical system adjacent to a residential building,” CalFire said in 2019. He left 22 people dead.
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Lahaina Fire
In an aerial view, charred vehicles and homes are seen in an area devastated by a wildfire on August 18, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii. At least 111 people have died and thousands have been left homeless after wind-driven wildfires ravaged towns. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Lahaina fire on the Hawaiian island of Maui occurred in August 2023. The death toll was 101.
“The cause of the fire was the renewal of broken power lines which caused the release of molten metal (sparks) to fall down the 25 pole, igniting the untended vegetation below.
An overhead power line between pole 25 and 24 caused that line to fall to the ground,
which then ignited the vegetation below,” said a report published by the Maui County Department of Fire and Public Safety. “The fire continued to rekindle as a result of a hidden smoky material that moved at an undetermined time in undetermined ways. in the affected fuel package in the pit to the east and south of the existing burned area.”
The NFPA says the initial inflation-adjusted loss from the fire reached $6.18 billion.
Woolsey Fire
MALIBU, CA – NOVEMBER 10: Los Angeles County firefighters battle flames approaching the Salvation Army camp at Malibu Creek State Park during the Woolsey Fire on November 10, 2018 near Malibu, California. The Woolsey fire has burned more than 70,000 acres (David McNew/Getty Images)
The Woolsey Fire cost $5.2 billion on an inflation-adjusted basis, according to the NFPA. CalFire reported flames from the 2018 inferno affected more than 96,900 acres in California.
The National Parks Service said 88% of the land it manages within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has burned.
Tunnel/Oakland Hills Fire
An inflation-adjusted loss of $3.893 billion came from the 2,900-acre Tunnel Fire in the Oakland Hills area of California in 1991, according to the NFPA.
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About 1,500 firefighters in Northern California were involved in efforts to put out the blaze at its worst, according to the East Bay Regional Park District.
How many wildfires does the US experience each year?
The US experiences tens of thousands of wildfires each year. About 56,600 have occurred in 2023, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The year before that was about 69,000.
Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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