Insurance claims from last year's deadly California wildfires have reached $11.8 billion, the most expensive series of wildfires in state history.
The staggering figure released Wednesday includes $1.8 billion in insurance claims from fires that swept through Southern California in December.
The rest is from a series of fires in Northern California's wine country in October.
Before last year, California's most expensive single fire was the 1991 Oakland Hills fire that prompted $2.7 billion in claims in today's dollars.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones says that the firestorms damaged or destroyed 32,000 homes, 4,300 businesses and more than 8,200 vehicles, boats and other equipment.
The totals do not include insurance claims related to mudslides that buried homes and vehicles in Montecito when torrential rain fell on hillsides burned in the December fires.
The Thomas fire, the largest recorded blaze in state history, burned for more than a month across 440 square miles (1,140 square kilometers) in two counties and destroyed at least 1,063 structures. Here are some key numbers encompassing the Thomas fire and six other significant blazes during December in Southern California:
NUMBER OF MAJOR WILDFIRES: 7.
AREA BURNED: 481 square miles (1,246 square kilometers).
DEATHS: 1 civilian, 1 firefighter.
NON-FATAL INJURIES: 12 firefighters, 7 civilians.
HOMES AND OTHER BUILDINGS DESTROYED: 1,355.
EVACUATIONS: The fires prompted orders for more than 200,000 people to leave their homes.
ESTIMATED LOSSES IN BUILDINGS, CARS AND EQUIPMENT: $1.8 billion.
Sources: U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and California Insurance Department.
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