A preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from the cluster of wildfires ravaging Southern California, according to one report, has been put at $52 to $57 billion.
The report was released by AccuWeather on Wednesday, Jan. 8, as the Eaton Fire, Palisades Fire and Woodley Fire continued to burn parts of Los Angeles County, spurring the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and resulting in the deaths of two civilians.
“This is already one of the worst wildfires in California history,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter in a statement. “Should a large number of additional structures be burned in the coming days, it may become the worst wildfire in modern California history based on the number of structures burned and economic loss.”
The preliminary estimation incorporates potential loss to expensive, multi-million dollar real estate from Santa Monica to Malibu as well as negative impacts on tourism and health, due to smoke inhalation and smoke damage in non-destroyed structures going forward.
Wildfires have caused over $70 billion in insured losses in California
Wildfires in California have caused over $70 billion in insured losses (Moody’s 2023 inflation-adjusted) from 40 major wildfires over the past decade, according to Moody’s in a 2024 report.
The total economic value of wildfires’ costs in California including labor market disruptions, property damage, and losses of life over the 2017 to 2021 period, according to a report by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, was put at an average annual loss of over $117.4 billion, which included an estimated $5 billion annual fiscal loss by the State of California from reduced tax revenues and increased wildfire response costs.
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This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Report puts Southern California wildfire costs at $52 billion