California Wildfire Losses Expected To Top $1 Billion

CAMARILLO (CBSLA/AP) — California's insurance commissioner says preliminary estimates of losses from the state's recent siege of wildfires exceed $1 billion and that the figure is expected to rise.

Commissioner Dave Jones told reporters in Los Angeles Thursday that the $1.045 billion estimate comes from the eight largest insurers in the affected areas.

"In California, we are seeing more severe and less predictable wildfires, which poses enormous challenges to all Californians," Jones told a media audience at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.

Authorities say nearly 7,000 homes and structures were destroyed in Northern California's deadly wildfires.

That number also is expected to increase. A few dozen homes and other structures also recently burned in a Southern California fire.

California Wildfires