From Artemis:
Wildfires burning across California continued their destructive paths in recent days, as hot and dry weather combined with strong winds fanned flames, while burns across other states including Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Utah all add to what is now anticipated to be a growing multi-billion dollar loss for the insurance and reinsurance industry.....MUCH MORE
In California, the wildfire situation worsened considerably again this week, with now more than 6,400 buildings and structures destroyed and thousands more damaged by the fires.
In particular, the North Complex of wildfires in Butte, Plumas, and Yuba county have destroyed over 2,000 structures in recent days, as the fires grew by almost 100,000 acres in just 24 hours and entered the top 10 largest wildfires in California state history.
Five of 2020’s wildfires in California are now in the top 10 largest fires ever to burn in the state and six in the top 20.
The August Complex wildfires in Tehama county are now the largest ever, at more than 470,000 acres.
The 2020 California wildfire season continues its unprecedented start and reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) interests will be watching nervously as the losses begin to aggregate towards levels where their capital support may be called on by insurers.
It’s not just California though, the hot and dry weather extends across more of the western United States and wildfires are burning in a number of other states.
Oregon has been particularly affected in recent days, with now more than half a million people having to be forced to evacuate their homes.
To provide scale, that’s around 10% of the population of the state of Oregon, a stunning statistic....
And from the National Interagency Fire Center, the situation through yesterday:
....MUCH MORESeptember 10, 2020Currently, 102 large fires have burned 4.4 million acres in 12 states. More than 26,000 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents throughout the country. Unprecedented weather conditions have created emergency situations near wildfires throughout California, Oregon, Washington, and other states. Almost half of the large fires reported today have evacuation orders in place....
| Year-to-date statistics | ||
| 2020 (1/1/20 - 9/10/20) | Fires: 41,599 | Acres: 5,288,247 |
| 2019 (1/1/19 - 9/10/19) | Fires: 36,142 | Acres: 4,251,231 |
| 2018 (1/1/18 - 9/10/18) | Fires: 47,303 | Acres: 7,068,928 |
| 2017 (1/1/17 - 9/10/17) | Fires: 48,082 | Acres: 8,159,989 |
| 2016 (1/1/16 - 9/10/16) | Fires: 42,280 | Acres: 4,745,957 |
| 2015 (1/1/15 - 9/10/15) | Fires: 45,198 | Acres: 8,671,828 |
| 2014 (1/1/14 - 9/10/14) | Fires: 39,137 | Acres: 2,814,004 |
| 2013 (1/1/13 - 9/10/13) | Fires: 36,275 | Acres: 3,960,254 |
| 2012 (1/1/12 - 9/10/12) | Fires: 45,777 | Acres: 8,180,660 |
| 2011 (1/1/11 - 9/10/11) | Fires: 56,803 | Acres: 7,451,071 |
| 2010 (1/1/10 - 9/10/10) | Fires: 46,306 | Acres: 2,657,483 |
| 10-year average Year-to-Date | ||
| 2010-2019 | Fires: 44,177 | Acres: 5,761,034 |
