Insured losses may cover only a fraction of the costs for fire victims, the UCLA economists said. Many property owners seeking to rebuild were underinsured, while those without mortgages may have had no policies or were dropped by private insurers. (Credit: Eaton Fire damage/Wikimedia Commons)
(Bloomberg) — Economic losses from the fires that tore through Los Angeles County in January range from $95 billion to $164 billion, according to a new report, potentially making the blazes the second-costliest natural disaster in US history.
The Eaton and Palisades fires, which both erupted Jan. 7, killed at least 29 people, charred more than 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares) and destroyed 16,000 structures, including 11,000 single-family homes. Insured losses are estimated at $75 billion, according to the report released Tues., Feb. 5, 2025, by University of California at Los Angeles economists Zhiyun Li and William Yu.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
