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A trio of wildfires have torched 100,000 acres in the Inland Empire and surrounding counties, forcing evacuations from fire threats and smoke, and prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom and county supervisors to declare a state of emergency to marshall firefighting resources to the area.
The fires highlight another, related crisis: the exodus of major insurance companies from California.
In June the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors pulled the alarm on that problem, calling for the state to declare an emergency over the dwindling home insurance options for people in high-risk areas. That includes lots of places in the Inland Empire’s deserts and mountains, where high heat and dry conditions make wildfire a constant danger. Adding to that, the region’s varied terrain leaves it vulnerable to a host of other calamities, including earthquakes, floods and even blizzards.