The wildfires spreading through California began on January 7th, 2025. Officials are unsure of how they began, though the drought-like conditions experienced during the last few months have been a big factor.
There are currently six active fires in California, with three in Los Angeles, two in San Diego, and one in Riverside.
There have been 240 total wildfires, with over 40,000 acres of land burned. Many evacuation warnings and orders have been issued within the last few weeks, with the most recent being for danger zones around the Hughes fire.
Over 15,000 structures have been destroyed by the fires and many people have been left without a home to return to. With their homes gone, many have also lost the insurance policies that would have allowed them to rebuild.
Companies such as All State, State Farm, and USAA have all dropped or declined to renew policies in areas of high risk of wildfires within the past year.
To combat this the state has implemented measures such as a one-year moratorium, a restriction of an activity, on insurers that are dropping homeowners living in fire prone areas.
Along with this, Commissioner Lara has called on insurers to drop any non renewals authorized in the ninety days prior to the emergency declaration as well as cancel any pending non renewals. He holds this influence as insurance commissioner, whose job it is to protect consumers, regulate insurance, and ensure market stability. This protects any residents that have unfortunately had their policy dropped, or were at risk of this happening.
If you wish to help the relief effort for residents affected by the wildfires, you can donate to organizations such as the American Red Cross, the California Fire Foundation, the Wildfire Recovery Fund, the LA Fire Department Foundation, Mercy Chiefs, and more.
