Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes as a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades killed at least five people and burned more than 21,000 acres within three days, reaching 8% containment Friday as firefighting efforts continue.

An aerial view captures some of the devastation in Malibu and Pacific Palisades as fires ravaged the Los Angeles area this week.

California banned insurers from canceling or not renewing residential property policies in the Los Angeles neighborhoods that were affected by the blazes that destroyed swaths of the city this week.

The state of California announced a one-year moratorium on the cancellation or non-renewal of homeowners insurance policies in zip codes affected by the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

In 2019, the number of homeowners’ policies in California that were not renewed jumped by more than thirty per cent. In 2023, two giant insurers, State Farm and Allstate, announced that they would stop writing new policies for various forms of property insurance in California.