Hi there,

The media can be the greatest force for peace on Earth. Instead, all too often, it’s wielded as a weapon of war. That's why we have to take the media back. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be DOUBLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $30. With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority – those calling for peace in a time of war, demanding action on the climate catastrophe and advocating for racial and economic justice. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

California: Deadly Wildfires Cause $1 Billion in Insured Losses

HeadlineOct 20, 2017

In California, the state’s insurance commissioner says the unprecedented wildfires have caused over $1 billion in insured losses. The wildfires are the deadliest since record keeping began, killing at least 42 people, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, and scorching more than 200,000 acres—roughly the size of New York City. As of Thursday, more than 20,000 people are still displaced in Sonoma County.

Cal Fire is investigating the cause of the fires. Residents in Santa Rosa have sued the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, claiming the company’s failure to maintain its power lines sparked the blazes. The night the fires began, there were multiple reports of downed power lines and exploding electrical transformers.

Meanwhile, the Sonoma County sheriff has refuted false claims being spread by far-right-wing news outlets, including Breitbart News, that an undocumented man arrested for arson on Sunday may have sparked the blazes. Sheriff Rob Giordano said, “There’s a story out there he’s the arsonist for these fires. That is not the case. There is no indication he is related to these fires at all.” We’ll have more on the deadly wildfires after headlines.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top