Los Angeles wildfires to be costliest in US history

According to various analyses released Thursday, the wildfires in Los Angeles, California, will be the most financially costly in the country's history. 

Although the first estimates of the damage caused by the fires did not indicate that the crisis would be the most costly, as the hours passed, the initial data were recalculated due to the uncontrolled spread of the flames in several counties.

According to Jimmy Bhullar, an analyst at JPMorgan, total economic losses from the fires are currently approaching a historic sum of $50 billion, which is double what was estimated a day earlier, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The $50 billion also includes insurance losses, which Bhullar estimated at more than $20 billion and "even more if the fires are not controlled," the WSJ cited.

For reference, the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California's Butte County was the most destructive wildfire in the United States until last year. According to broker Aon, it inflicted insurance losses of about $12.5 billion, dwarfing the insurance losses caused by this year's fires.

According to the WSJ, the final tally of insurance losses from natural catastrophes, including wildfires, usually varies from initial estimates. As with the Los Angeles fires, most forecasts are released after the events have concluded.

"Analysts and others work out potential costs in part by comparing the number and average value of properties destroyed to previous fires," the media outlet detailed.