California Fires Cause An Estimated $50+ Billion In Damages; On Track To Be Most Expensive In History

The wildfires tearing through Los Angeles are on track to be by far the most expensive wildfire in U.S. history, according to new estimates.

The Wall Street Journal obtained estimates from JPMorgan Chase that put the economic damages from the fire at $50 billion, a number that is likely to continue growing.

The New York Times reported that the two largest fires — the Eaton and Palisades fires — have destroyed as many as 10,000 structures.

The report said that the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California’s Butte County was previously considered to be the most destructive fire in U.S. history, causing $12.5 billion in insured losses.

AccuWeather’s Global Weather Center put the total estimated damage between $52 billion and $57 billion.

The figures account for “both direct and indirect impacts of the storm and includes both insured and uninsured losses,” The Hill reported.

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Tens of thousands of acres of land have already been destroyed among several fires that have broken out throughout the city as new fires continued to flare up as recently as Thursday evening.

The report noted that hurricanes cause the largest insured losses, with Hurricane Katrina causing the most damage in history at more than a $100 billion in 2005. Hurricane Ian in 2022 was the second most destructive storm in history in terms of insured losses with more than $55 billion lost.