Southern California Fires

January 9 Update | Summary
Posting Date: January 9, 2025, 1:00:00 PM

A series of wildfires, the worst to hit Los Angeles County on record, continue to burn Thursday, while new fires have ignited in the region as well.  The Palisades fire has grown to more than 17,000 acres as of reports Thursday morning and is still uncontained.  The Eaton fire has also grown to more than 10,000 acres and remains uncontained as well.  An additional fire has ignited in the Hollywood Hills (Sunset Fire) on Wednesday night, and the Lidia and Hurst fires also continue to burn in Los Angeles County, though containment is increasing on these, with Lidia at 40% and Hurst at 10% contained as of Thursday morning.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department reports that at least 1,000 structures have been destroyed in the Palisades fire, and another 1,000 damaged or destroyed in the Eaton fire.  From the latest perimeter issued by the NIFC as of Thursday morning, Verisk estimates that at least $15 billion in insurable exposure lies within the Palisades fire perimeter and is therefore potentially at risk.  Meanwhile, the latest official update on the Eaton fire indicates more than 28,000 structures remain threatened.  Red flag warnings continue through the day Thursday and into Friday for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with 40 to 60 mph gusts forecast, continuing to create challenges for firefighters.

ALERT™ subscribers can download a list of impacted ZIP codes along with the proportion of total area of each ZIP which is currently within the latest NIFC perimeters for the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Sunset fires from the Downloads tab of this posting on the ALERT website.

The Verisk ALERT Team will provide an update on the situation by around noon EDT on Friday, January 10, along with updated impacted ZIPs.  We will provide additional guidance on other steps, including the potential release of an industry loss estimate, as the situation continues to evolve.  In the meantime, linked below are some additional resources to support response to this ongoing event:

• CAL FIRE
• Inciweb Wildfire Event Reporting Site
• National Interagency Fire Center Perimeter Shapefiles

January 9 Update | Downloads
Posting Date: January 9, 2025, 1:00:00 PM

The information provided herein is strictly confidential and is solely for the use of Verisk clients; disclosure to others is prohibited.

Product	File Type	Description	Download
Impacted ZIPs	Excel (xls)	A list of impacted ZIP codes for each of the current major fires in southern California, based on the latest NIFC perimeters, along with the proportion of the total area within each ZIP within the perimeter.