California Fire Losses Still a Minor Insurance Item

More than 84,000 acres in California's San Bernardino County were burned or on fire by July 16, but damage from the blazes did not reach the level of an insurance catastrophe, according to the Insurance Services Office.

"We haven't hit a cat yet. The fire has not impacted a significant number of vehicles or buildings," commented Christopher Guidette, a spokesperson for ISO, the parent of Property Claims Services, which keeps tabs on insured losses.

PCS defines an insurance catastrophe as one which impacts a significant number of policyholders -- in the thousands, Guidette noted. It also has a minimum threshold of a $25 million insured loss.

Three fires burning 100 miles east of Los Angeles have joined into one monster blaze, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Engulfing 61,700 acres, the Sawtooth fire has totally destroyed 50 homes, eight mobile homes, 13 garages, 171 outbuildings, 191 cars and pickup trucks, three recreational vehicles, 27 trailers, two railcars, and nine tractors, officials said. Sawtooth partially burned another 12 homes and two outbuildings.

Robert Brady, a fire information officer, said the Millard Fire section of the conflagration had burned through 22,103 acres and was threatening 75 homes in the Whitewater and Stubb Canyon areas. He said the Heart Fire in the Burns Canyon area was threatening another 100 residences and had involved 800 acres.

Brady said firefighters were concerned about predictions of lightning storms for the area. While they might bring some rain, the worry is that they can also cause erratic winds that jump the fire in other directions as well as lightning strikes setting trees and brush on fire.

Tully Lehman with the Insurance Information Network of California said the group at this point has no information on insurance losses. Concerning the amount of damage that has occurred so far, he said, "The insurance industry shouldn't have any problems with this at all."

This article originally appeared in The National Underwriter P&C. For the complete article, please click here.