A string of wildfires in California aggregated together have become the most damaging event on record in the state, according to this month's Global Catastrophe Recap report from Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development team. 

Data from Californian fire protection organization, CalFire, indicated that nearly 9,300 structures were damaged, of which more than 8,560 were destroyed. The wildfires also killed at least 43 people and injured 185 others. 

The worst damage was noted in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake Solano, Butte and Yuba counties. The California Department of Insurance cited that at least 19,000 residential, commercial and auto claims had been filed, with payouts exceed $3.32 billion. The total was expected to rise as high as $8 billion as additional claims were processed. 

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Denny Jacob

Denny Jacob is an associate editor for NU PropertyCasualty360. Contact him at [email protected].

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