State Farm teams respond to California wildfires

Dec. 12--BLOOMINGTON -- A State Farm catastrophe team is assisting policyholders affected by the latest wildfires to hit California in what is becoming a record-breaking wildfire year for that state.

State Farm has already received about 1,050 homeowner claims and 160 auto claims from the Southern California blazes that have placed tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders.

The fire about 75 miles northwest of Los Angeles has become the fifth-largest in the state's history. The Associated Press reported that more than 750 buildings have been destroyed in the fire that is only 15 percent contained after burning nearly 360 square miles of dry brush and timber.

State Farm spokeswoman Missy Dundov said Monday that in addition to the on-the-ground team in California, three Centralized Catastrophe Services operations and Initial Loss Reporting teams are located throughout the United States, working closely with the ground team.

Just a couple months ago, attention was on the northern part of the state as wildfires burned through California's wine country.

Those fires resulted in a total of more than $9 billion in residential, commercial, automobile and other insurance claims as of Dec. 1, according to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. That's up from $3.3 million in losses that were announced in late October, but Jones told The Associated Press that the number is not expected to rise significantly.

State Farm received about 4,370 homeowner claims totaling $423.4 million and about 1,330 auto claims, totaling $20 million, from those fires, as of Dec. 10, Dundov said.

She said it is difficult to compare this to other wildfires "because each wildfire presents its own unique challenges and characteristics."

But Jones told The Associated Press, "This represents one of the most devastating series of fires in California's history in terms of insured losses. ... And behind those staggering numbers are personal stories of tragedy and loss, and 44 individuals whose lives were lost."

Containment has increased on other major blazes in Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego counties.

"This is the new normal," Gov. Jerry Brown said Saturday after viewing damage from the Ventura fire, which has claimed one life.

Brown and others said climate change is making wildfires a year-round threat. The fire risk is expected to remain high into January even though fires of this type are not typical in Southern California this time of year.

Follow Lenore Sobota on Twitter @Pg_Sobota

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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