Northern California's recent, deadly wildfires affecting at least 8 counties have claimed at least 43 lives and 14,700 homes, with insured losses over $3.3 billion.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said, "we may also see, unfortunately, insurance companies updating their models of risk associated with these fires ... And that may mean in some cases some insurers will decide to write less insurance in some areas that had traditionally had been viewed as lower risk," CNBC reports.
[Jones] said increasing dry conditions in parts of the state are contributing to the fire risk. He also blamed the changing global climate. "The wildfires in Santa Rosa destroyed neighborhoods that had been previously understood to have be at lower risk," he said. "That fire jumped over a four-lane highway, which it was thought would function as a fire break. That didn't occur."
