Weekend Edition.

"No rain in sight out there.”

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1. California Fires:

Palisades Fire: 21,586 acres…………8% contained.

Eaton Fire: 14,117 acres…….….3% contained.

Kenneth Fire: 1,052 acres…………50% contained.

Hurst Fire: 771 acres…………70% contained.

Lidia Fire: 395 acres…………98% contained.

Archer Fire: 19 acres………… 0% contained.

(Source: fire.ca.gov)

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2. The weather will once again turn against Los Angeles after a brief respite that allowed firefighters to gain ground on blazes across the second-most populous US city and offered enough pause for officials to begin trading accusations. Dry winds will raise the risk of critical fire weather conditions across Southern California late Saturday and likely persist through the first half of the coming week, leaving millions in peril, according to the US Storm Prediction Center. “You worry about new fire growth beyond tonight and tomorrow; you worry about those untapped areas going forward,” said Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. “And let’s just get this out of the way now, there is just no rain in sight out there.” (Source: bloomberg.com)

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3. The Washington Post:

The Palisades Fire, the largest of six active blazes in the Los Angeles region, shifted east on Friday night and triggered a new evacuation order that included much of the Brentwood neighborhood and parts of Encino. The new flare-up was a “significant development,” said L.A. County spokesman Jesus Ruiz, with the fire rapidly growing and moving in the direction of “a heavily populated area … we’re definitely concerned.”

The fires have killed at least 11 people and burned more than 37,000 acres — an area bigger than San Francisco — according to Cal Fire, with flames claiming more than 12,000 structures and displacing tens of thousands. (Source: washingtonpost.com. Un-paywalled coverage can be found at Reuters, AP News, NBC News, The Guardian)

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4. The Wall Street Journal:

You may live hundreds or thousands of miles away, but the wildfires tearing across Los Angeles and other natural disasters stand to raise your home-insurance bill.

The wildfires are estimated to have caused insured losses of as much as $20 billion or more. Hurricanes Milton and Helene inflicted insured losses approaching $50 billion.

Insurers have tended to raise rates on homeowners in regions where disasters strike. But researchers say the scale of losses leads companies to tap faraway customers to recoup their money.

A Harvard Business School study found that expensive disasters in some parts of the country affect insurance rates in others, as insurers bump up premiums for homeowners in other areas to help cover big losses.

“It’s spread all over the country, and it spreads in a disproportionate way, where some people are bearing an overwhelmingly higher cost,” said Ishita Sen, a co-author of the study and a Harvard finance professor.