Private insurers pulled back dramatically from the state after a run of natural disasters, including the Los Angeles-area wildfires, demonstrated California’s increasing vulnerability to extreme weather. Insurers have hiked premiums and declined to renew policies.

Insurance experts say it’s a national warning sign, as the effects of climate change cause private insurance companies to pull back on coverage in disaster-prone areas, leaving states and their residents to assume more of the risk.

Four of California's gubernatorial candidates tangled over climate change and wildfire preparedness at an economic forum Thursday in Stockton, though they all acknowledged the stark problems facing the state.

Castro won a $2 billion Powerball lottery in 2022. Since the fire earlier this year, he has been buying up lots in Altadena, California, with the hopes of leading the rebuilding efforts there. He has already spent $10 million on 15 lots, but he’s not the only one looking to buy in the wake of the disaster.

Vigliotti, based in Los Angeles, joined CBS News in 2015, and his work has appeared on Sunday Morning , Face the Nation and 48 Hours. He was recognized with an Emmy and an Edward R. Murrow Award, and has covered the Syrian civil war, the Mediterranean refugee crisis and Arctic climate change, among other stories worldwide.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed hundreds of 2025 bills into law on artificial intelligence, immigration, wildfire relief and more before an October deadline.

The Palisades Fire was the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles to date and among the five worst in California’s history.

The California Department of Insurance, led by Commissioner Ricardo Lara, said it has no plans to pursue regulation to force insurers to divest. But Lara’s predecessor, Dave Jones, contends that insurance companies investing in fossil fuels “is like pouring gasoline on a wildfire.”

Dawes has tapped stars including Brad Paisley, Mandy Moore, and Jackson Browne to perform at a benefit concert one year after the Eaton Fire.

“Woodpeckers, for example, are cavity nesters, so they make a hole in dead trees and raise their young there — and so you expect them to be positively affected after a fire sweeps through and there are more dead trees,” Ray explained.