California overhauled its troubled insurance system. Then Los Angeles caught on fire

The Palisades Fire could cause more than $10 billion in damages, further straining the state’s fragile insurance market.

On Tuesday, after a ferocious Santa Ana windstorm blew through Southern California, a severe brush fire broke out in the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, burning more than 1,000 structures and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate as of Wednesday afternoon. Another large brush fire broke out near Pasadena around the same time; at least five people have been killed by the fires.