People sparked most US wildfires in recent decades, causing longer fire seasons and increasing the amount of scorched earth, according to a new study published Monday. Researchers found that humans caused 84 percent -- or four out of five -- of the total 1.5 million wildfires studied between 1992 and 2012.



In addition, human actions tripled the length of the fire season during those two decades and were responsible for 44 percent of the total acreage burned, researchers reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

United Technologies Corp’s (UTX.N) Carrier unit expanded a recall of some air conditioners and heat pumps as their power cord plugs can overheat, posing a fire risk, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday.

The possible listeria contamination affecting a number of cheese brands continues to grow, as Sargento and MDS Foods announced over the weekend the recall of more than a dozen additional products that may have come into contact with the listeria-tainted cheeses from supplier Deutsch Kase Haus.

Your greatest SodaStream fears have been realized: tens of thousands of SodaStream’s plastic bottles may not be able to withstand quite as much pressure as the company thought, causing the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a recall because they pose an injury risk to carbonation-happy consumers.

A few days after Pennsylvania’s opioid prescription law limiting emergency room prescriptions to seven days with no refills went into effect on Jan. 1, lawmakers in neighboring New Jersey began introducing their own form of prescriber limits — five days for new prescriptions, according to a matching set of bills set before the state’s Senate and Assembly.

Maryland State Police say a tractor-trailer’s cab separated from the rest of the rig when the truck hit a guardrail, and then slid down an embankment onto a city street with the driver inside.

It may not come as a surprise that bruises and open wounds are the most common injuries in every state across America — with the one exception of Colorado, where you’re more likely to have be injured by a ‘fall’. But did you know that ‘over-exertion’ is disproportionately common in North Dakota, and a ‘near-drowning’ experience six-times more likely in Hawaii?

Safe drivers who are in accidents caused by others often see auto insurance rate hikes, according to research released today by Consumer Federation of America (CFA). The research analyzed premium quotes in 10 cities from five of the nation’s largest auto insurers.

Putting the injured worker first is key to the “advocacy-based claims model,” which puts the worker at the center of all activity. “It focuses on improving the injured worker’s experience. Until now, most employers have focused on corporate outcomes.

The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry in 2016 will likely post an underwriting loss for the first time in four years due to higher catastrophe losses, competitive market conditions and auto liability challenges, A.M. Best Co. Inc. said Monday.

German carmaker Volkswagen will recall nearly 600,000 vehicles in the United States, most of them its premium Audi brand, over defects that could lead to fires or airbag malfunctions.

Ford just issued two new recalls, covering two wildly different vehicle segments. In fact, these two recalls exist on opposite ends of a number of spectrums.

This emerging market is rapidly growing strength throughout the United States with legalized cannabis. The marijuana insurance industry has exploded since certain forms and uses of medicinal cannabis received approval.

Every 45 seconds, a car is stolen in the U.S., for a total value of $4.9 billion in stolen vehicles during 2015. And as vehicles have become more sophisticated, they’ve often inadvertently been left exposed to car theft in new ways.

New government estimates project that for the second straight year, the United States will see the largest leap in motor vehicle fatalities in 50 years. In the first nine months of 2016, the Department of Transportation estimates that 27,875 people died in motor vehicle crashes.