How much money did the California wildfires cost?
A report published in 2018 by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research organization, estimated that for the 2017 wildfire season in California, insurance claims for property loss plus suppression costs only accounted for about $14 billion out of the staggering $100 billion estimate of the season’s overall cost.
How much does it cost to recover from a wildfire?
Studies estimated suppression costs for this fire between $43 and $50 million. 12 Other direct costs, including the loss of homes and property, totaled $122.5 million. Rehabilitation costs were generated from immediate post-fire expenditures, and then projected out over three years for a total cost of $139 million.
What started the latest California fire?
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, blamed a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device, used during a gender reveal party” for the start of the blaze. Gender reveal parties are celebrations announcing whether expecting parents are going to have a girl or a boy.
Who started the gender reveal fire in California?
Timeline. The fire began on September 5, caused by a malfunctioning smoke-generating pyrotechnical device at a gender reveal party. The fire then continued to spread in the El Dorado Ranch Park, as well as parts of San Bernardino County and Riverside County, burning up to 13,715 acres as of September 14.
Why are fires so common now?
Increasing heat, changing rain and snow patterns, shifts in plant communities, and other climate-related changes have vastly increased the likelihood that fires will start more often and burn more intensely and widely than they have in the past.
Are fires due to climate change?
Climate change has been a key factor in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the Western United States. Once a fire starts—more than 80 percent of U.S. wildfires are caused by people—warmer temperatures and drier conditions can help fires spread and make them harder to put out.