Hoquiam sends two to fight LA wildfires

On Thursday morning two members from the Hoquiam Fire Department — Engineer Derek Jensen and Engineer John Phillips — joined with other departments from the Central Region in Washington state to head to the California wildfires.

Jensen will be assigned as the Task Force Leader, leading crews from Thurston, Lewis and Mason counties. Phillips will be a crew member on a Black Lake McLane engine.

Washington state is currently pulling together resources that have been requested from California via an Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

The state’s Emergency Management Division is working with fire departments across the state to coordinate nine task forces made up of 45 engines, 11 trucks and 146 personnel. Additionally, the Washington Department of Natural Resources has sent two strike teams made up of 35 personnel and 10 engines.

“I have been in touch with Governor Newsom and have assured him that Washington stands ready to do whatever we can to assist in this crisis,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to the dedicated firefighters and first responders from Washington state who have volunteered to assist in the fight against these fires. Their selflessness and commitment to helping others, regardless of state lines, is a testament to the strength of our shared values and the spirit of service that defines us.”

Inslee said Washington’s fire crews “are some of the best around. … To all of our firefighters, their families, and their support teams — thank you for your unwavering dedication to keeping people safe. We stand with you and with the people of California during this difficult time.”

The Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Sunset fires are burning in the Los Angeles area, fueled by powerful winds with gusts of up to 60 miles per hour. By Thursday morning, the fires destroyed more than 2,000 structures and killed at least five people, according to the Los Angeles Times.

By Thursday afternoon, Cal Fire estimated more than 20,000 acres had burned, and the Associated Press reported more than 180,000 people were under evacuation orders. Unlike the Level, 1, 2 and 3 evacuations in Oregon, in California, an evacuation order means leave immediately.

Red Cross workers from Oregon and Southwest Washington were also headed to Southern California on Thursday to help evacuees at seven shelters in the LA area.

Gusty winds were expected through Friday afternoon with critically dry conditions in the LA area, according to the National Weather Service.

Damage estimated at $50B

The destruction caused by the Los Angeles-area wildfires, possibly the worst ever in California, is almost certain to rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history, with the total economic toll well into the tens of billions of dollars.

One preliminary estimate calculated by AccuWeather, the weather forecasting service, put the damage and total economic loss at $52 billion to $57 billion — a sum that could rise if the fires continue to spread.

J.P. Morgan on Thursday doubled its expectations of economic losses from a day earlier, saying they would be closer to $50 billion.

Five fires have already scorched thousands of acres in and around Los Angeles, forcing at least 130,000 people to be evacuated and damaging or destroying about 2,000 buildings. Five people have died.

While it may be days before the full extent of the cost is known, the sheer number of expensive homes and businesses affected suggests that the overall economic damage will likely be greater than the $30-billion loss caused by the Camp fire across California in 2018, considered the state’s most expensive wildfire to date.

The Maui wildfires in 2023, by comparison, caused $5.6 billion in damages, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

By the NOAA estimates, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is the most expensive U.S. natural disaster, costing an estimated $200 billion.

On Thursday, experts at Moody’s said that they expected the insured losses stemming from the L.A. County fires to run in the billions of dollars given the high value of properties in coastal Pacific Palisades, where the first blazes broke out on Tuesday.

Fires burning around Santa Monica and Malibu have torched homes that are among the most expensive in the country, with a median value of over $2 million, said AccuWeather.

J.P. Morgan on Thursday raised its earlier estimate of insured losses to $20 billion.

But many affected homes were not insured. The insurance industry has been walloped by hurricanes and other harbingers of climate change in recent years, and some of the biggest insurers have ceased writing or stopped renewing policies in high-risk coastal and wildfire areas like Pacific Palisades.

California has had one of the highest rates of homeowner policy non-renewals in the country in recent years, based on government reports.

“The fires moving through Los Angeles County highlight the intensifying risk that wildfires pose to significant areas of the State of California,” said Denise Rappmund, senior analyst at Moody’s Ratings.

“It is too early to evaluate potential impacts to property valuations or other credit implications for individual local governments,” she added. “However, these events will continue to have widespread, negative impacts for the state’s broader insurance market — increased recovery costs will likely drive up premiums and may reduce property insurance availability.”

— The LA Times contributed to this report