The 2015 fire season set a new record for the number of acres burned in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, while more and more people live in areas that are prone to wildfires.
While wildfires are nothing new, the catastrophic losses to homeowners and insurance companies are increasingly causing heartache and economic pain.
In California alone, wildfires that raged across Northern California in September 2015, cost insurers more than $1.1 billion, according to catastrophe modeler Impact Forecasting.
California, Colorado and Texas are the states with the largest number of properties categorized as very high risk, with a combined property value exceeding $36 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).
A 2015 study by CoreLogic identifies almost 900,000 residential properties across 13 states in the western United States currently at high or very high risk of wildfire damage. They represent a combined total property value estimated at more than $237 billion.
Fires are 1.5% of insured U.S. catastrophe losses
Over the 20-year period, 1995 to 2014, fires, including wildfires, accounted for 1.5% of insured U.S. catastrophe losses, totaling about $6 billion, according to Property Claims Services.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have concluded that by 2050 the number of wildfires in the West could rise by 50%, and across the United States the number would double.
Here are the Top 10 most costly wildland fires in the U.S. through 2014, according to data from the I.I.I. and compiled by Property Claim Services:
Army helicopters drop water on the Black Forest wildfire behind houses on the Flying Horse Ranch in Colorado Springs, Colo., on June 13, 2013. (Photo: Ed Andrieski/AP Photo)
10. Black Forest Fire, Colorado
June 11-16, 2013
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $385 million.
In 2014 dollars: $391 million.
Salinas Fire Department firefighters stand watch over a home as it burns in Santa Barbara, Calif. on May 6, 2009. Fierce winds blew a wildfire into Southern California homes, forcing residents to flee as columns of smoke rose from a scenic coastal enclave. (Photo: Dan Steinberg/AP Photo)
9. Santa Barbara Fire, California
June 27-July 2, 1990
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $265 million.
In 2014 dollars: $430 million.
Members of the Federal Emergency Management Adminstration and the Small Business Administration look at a burned home in Colorado Springs, Colo., on July 9, 2012. The officials were assessing damages in the area burned by the Waldo Canyon wildfire. (Photo: Ed Andrieski/AP Photo)
8. Waldo Canyon Fire, Colorado
June 24-28, 2012
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $450 million.
In 2014 dollars: $463 million.
A single home sits virtually untouched in Laguna Beach, Calif., Oct. 28, 1993, after wildfires reduced neighboring homes, and hundreds of others, to rubble. (Photo: Douglas C. Pizac/AP Photo)
7. Orange County Fire, California
Oct. 27-28, 1993
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $350 million.
In 2014 dollars: $525 million.
In this Sept. 8, 2011, file photo, a firefighter sprays a hot spot at a home destroyed by wildfires, in Bastrop, Texas. Blazes burned more than 2,700 homes and blackened about 6,200 square miles. (Photo: Eric Gay/AP Photo)
6. Bastrop County Complex Fire, Texas
Sept. 4-9, 2011
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $530 million.
In 2014 dollars: $556 million.
An eerie light is cast through the smoke and haze of a fire along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., Nov. 3, 1993. More than 3,000 firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze. (Photo: Bob Galbraith/AP Photo)
5. Los Angeles County Fire, California
Nov. 2-3, 1993
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $375 million.
In 2014 dollars: $562 million.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer tours a section of the Del Rosa neighborhood that was burnt in the "Old Fire" in San Bernardino, Calif., Nov. 8, 2003. (Photo: Ann Johansson/AP Photo)
4. Old Fire, California
Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2003
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $975 million.
In 2014 dollars: $1.22 billion.
A house goes up in flames in Cedar Glen, Calif., Oct. 29, 2003. (Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP Photo)
3. Cedar Fire, California
Oct. 25-Nov. 4, 2003
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $1.06 million.
In 2014 dollars: $1.32 billion.
The Witch wildfire burned this home in San Diego County near the city of Poway, Calif., Oct. 23, 2007. (Photo: Chris Carlson/AP Photo)
2. Witch Fire, California
Oct. 21-24, 2007
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $1.3 million.
In 2014 dollars: $1.45 billion.
Oakland firefighter Lt. Phillip Bell walks through the ruins of some 250 apartment units as they burned in the Oakland Hills, Calif., Oct. 20, 1991. Five complexes of 50 units each were destroyed in this hills area near the Caldecott tunnel on Highway 24. Bell, in checking for residents, said firefighters were driven back by searing flames. (Photo: Sal Veder/AP Photo)
1. Oakland Fire, California
Oct. 20-21, 1991
Estimated insured loss when occurred: $1.7 billion.
In 2014 dollars: $2.67 billion.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.