Firefighters battled several intense wind-driven wildfires early on Friday across densely populated Southern California that have destroyed at least 500 structures and chased tens of thousands of people from their homes over the past five days.

Insured losses from wildfires that raged through California in October topped $9.4 billion, the state’s insurance commissioner said on Wednesday.

Firefighters trying to keep blazes from spreading throughout the Los Angeles area are now facing hurricane-force winds in addition to flames. At least four major fires had engulfed large tracts of land in the metro area’s north and west, with the Thomas Fire reaching 90,000 acres by Thursday morning.

A series of Santa Ana wind-driven wildfires burned out of control in Southern California on Tuesday, destroying at least 180 structures, forcing thousands to flee and smothering the region with smoke in what officials predicted would be a pitched battle for days.

California has been happy to tweak the rules to get more self-driving cars on the road, but it still has its limits. The state’s DMV has eliminated a planned rule (suggested by GM) that would have let companies avoid liability for an autonomous vehicle crash if the machine hadn’t been maintained to manufacturer specs.

Florida, thanks to a string of liability-expanding decisions, has earned itself the top spot in the newest Judicial Hellhole” rankings, according to an annual report issued by the American Tort Reform Association Tuesday.

Pushed by powerful Santa Ana winds, a Southern California fire spread with explosive speed to 26,000 acres on Monday night, forcing thousands to evacuate in the dark.

In a closely watched decision that could impact whether ratepayers are on the hook for billions in costs related to the Napa-Sonoma fires if PG&E is found at fault, the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday denied a request from San Diego Gas & Electric to charge its customers $379 million in costs related to three huge fires that the utility’s power lines caused in 2007.

Brooke Owens has always been one to raise a helping hand. For the second year, the Redondo Beach mom opened the doors of her flower shop on Pacific Coast Highway to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California attorney pleaded guilty Monday to running a scam that authorities say collected more than $50 million from wealthy Chinese investors seeking green cards.

Lowcostcarinsuranceprice.com has released a new blog post explaining thatcar insurance claims can increase the policy’s costs.

Car insurance pays benefits after an accident. The insured can claim benefits to repair his or her car. This will have an effect on car insurance rates as it will make premiums more expensive. This means that the initial prices of a policy are very important.

An 11-year-old boy is dead and his 9-year-old boy is in critical condition after a truck crashed into their bedroom in the community of Madera Ranchos, according to the Madera County Fire Department. The driver of the truck also died at the scene.

Police on Wednesday were looking for thieves who stole 1,800 gallons of vodka from a downtown Los Angeles distillery. The thieves broke into the Fog Shots vodka factory — a family business that was started in Armenia — and took more than 9,000 bottles of alcohol worth nearly $280,000, the company’s Art Gukasyan said.

Uber Technologies Inc. was sued for negligence hours after it disclosed that customers and drivers’ personal data was hacked over a year ago.

The California insurance commissioner says that people who lost their homes in last month’s Northern California wildfires have up to 24 months to collect insurance payments.