THE TEN MOST COSTLY WILDLAND FIRES IN THE UNITED STATES (1)

($ millions)

      Estimated insured loss 
Rank Date Location Dollars when
occurred
In 2010
dollars (2)
1 Oct. 20-21, 1991 Oakland Fire, CA $1,700 $2,516
2 Oct. 21-24, 2007 Witch Fire, CA 1,300 1,353
3 Oct. 25-Nov. 4, 2003 Cedar Fire, CA 1,060 1,247
4 Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2003 Old Fire, CA 975 1,147
5 Nov. 2-3, 1993 Los Angeles County Fire, CA 375 530
6 Oct. 27-28, 1993 Orange County Fire, CA 350 495
7 Jun. 27-Jul. 2, 1990 Santa Barbara Fire, CA 265 406
8 Sep. 6-13, 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire, CO 210 210
9 May 10-16, 2000 Cerro Grande Fire, NM 140 175
10 Jun. 23-28, 2002 Rodeo Chediski Complex Fire, AZ 120 144

(1) Property coverage only for catastrophic fires. Effective January 1, 1997, Property Claim Services (PCS) unit defines catastrophes as events that cause more than $25 million in insured property damage and that affect a significant number of insureds and insurers. From 1982 to 1996, PCS used a $5 million threshold in defining catastrophes.
(2) Adjusted for inflation through 2010 by ISO using the GDP implicit price deflator.

Source: The Property Claim Services (PCS) unit of ISO, a Verisk Analytics company.