An estimated 3.6 million residential properties in California are situated within wildland-urban interface areas, with more than one million of these residences highly exposed to wildfire events. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) In 2017, California experienced the worst fire season in history.
Five of California's most destructive wildfires on record occurred in 2017. In fact, 2017 is the costliest year on record for insurers with total U.S. wildfire peril totaling $16 billion in losses, according to Burning Issues, Allianz's 2017 wildfire review.
In 2018, the Golden State is still battling wildfires. Almost 4,000 fires were raging across California as of August 5, scorching more than 600,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection. That's more than double the acreage at this time last year, and more than quadruple the year-to-date five-year average.
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Denny Jacob
Denny Jacob is an associate editor for NU PropertyCasualty360. Contact him at [email protected].
