Fires in Los Angeles. Insurers will pay out billions of dollars in claims, many homes uninsured

The death toll from the California wildfires has increased to at least 10. More than 180,000 people were ordered to evacuate. people, and the fire consumed thousands of buildings in an area of ​​approximately 120 square kilometers, i.e. an area equal to San Francisco. The cause of the fires, the worst in Los Angeles' history, has not yet been determined.

Fires in Pacific Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and other Los Angeles neighborhoods could result in insurer losses of more than $8 billion, analysts at the Morningstar DBRS ratings agency said. The damage toll is higher than that of the Woolsey fire in California in 2018, which caused over $6 billion in damage.

Jasper Cooper, senior credit officer at Moody's Ratings, also expected losses that would be covered by insurers to be in the billions of dollars, given the high property values ​​in the area.

Experts note that costs to insurers will likely result in significant increases in premiums and may reduce the availability of property insurance in California.

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Morningstar DBRS points out that some properties destroyed by fire may be uninsured.

However, the fires are still continuing, which means that estimates previously published by economists may quickly become outdated. JPMorgan on Thursday estimated losses at $20 billion. This is twice as much as expected the previous day.

Late in the afternoon (on the night from Thursday to Friday, Polish time) in the San Fernando Valley, just 3 km from the school serving as a shelter for evacuated residents, a new fire, named Kenneth, quickly spread. By the evening, flames also engulfed neighboring Ventura County.

Los Angeles County officials announced that the Eaton Fire, which has been raging since Tuesday, has so far burned more than 5,000 homes. buildings, including residential, farm and business buildings, and many vehicles. In Pacific Palisades, the largest fire raging in the Los Angeles area destroyed over 5,300. buildings, including several churches, a synagogue, as well as schools, libraries, banks and shops.

The people who lost their homes as a result of the fire included many actors and other famous people. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis declared that she would donate one million dollars to a support fund for fire victims.

All educational facilities in the Los Angeles School District, one of the nation's largest, will remain closed until further notice due to heavy smoke and ash.

At least 20 people were arrested for looting homes and stores abandoned by the fires, and a curfew was announced in the city of Santa Monica, neighboring Los Angeles, from 10 a.m. 16-8.