California fire losses at $9 billion

Insurers expect amount to rise as more claims are processed

LOS ANGELES — Insured losses from the conflagrations that consumed thousands of acres in California last month and killed more than 80 people already total $9 billion, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced Wednesday.

The bulk of the losses — worth about $8.36 billion — are from 28,519 claims for damaged or destroyed residential personal property. There is an additional $571 million worth of claims for commercial property and $124 million for other assets, including automobile losses.

“We know this number is going to climb,” Jones said of losses from the Camp, Woolsey and Hill fires, which damaged or destroyed nearly 20,000 homes.

In Northern California, losses from the deadly Camp Fire have totaled $7 billion, while those from the Woolsey and Hill fires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties are $2 billion.

The Camp Fire was the worst in California history, destroying more than 15,000 structures and killing 86 people. Much of the town of Paradise was leveled.

The fire displaced thousands of residents who are not sure where they are going to live and whether they will be able to rebuild their homes.

The Paradise blaze comes on the heels of other destructive fires, with some fire victims realizing their insurance doesn’t cover all of their losses.