Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

Low pay pushes some federal firefighters to find work elsewhere

Jul 14, 2021
“We all live supermodestly,” a firefighter said. “We’re about being able to do this job that we love, but also sustain life.”
Firefighters battle the Thomas blaze in California in 2017.
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

PG&E ties compensation of victims to its future through stock

Apr 1, 2021
PG&E equipment caused the Camp Fire and other deadly blazes. What does it mean for victims when the settlement depends on profitability?
Victims of wildfires caused by PG&E equipment wonder how owning the company's stock will compensate them for their lost and damaged homes.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

2 years after losing their homes in California fire, some are still wrangling with insurers

Dec 11, 2020
California has opened an audit into insurance company Nationwide's practices.
An aerial view of a neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire on Nov. 15, 2018, in Paradise, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Smoke damage to grapes is the latest blow to California wine industry

Oct 6, 2020
A glut of grapes on the market, the pandemic and fires that damaged or destroyed wineries. Now, grapes tainted by smoke may be unusable.
“It was difficult this year, and it’s going to be even harder next year,” says Enrique Lopez, who employs up to 100 people to harvest grapes.
Beth LaBerge/KQED

In California, big business is preventing "good fire"

Sep 21, 2020
With the largest wildfires in history ablaze, advocates say its time to fight fire with fire.
A firefighter walks over burning embers from the Bobcat Fire in Southern California.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Insurance increasingly unaffordable as climate change brings more disasters

Aug 31, 2020
In California, homeowners in high wildfire-risk areas are finding insurance is harder to find, costs more and is worth less.
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire burns through Napa on Aug. 18, 2020.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A year after the Camp Fire, local developers are working together to rebuild Paradise

Nov 11, 2019
Despite concerns that big out-of-town developers would buy up land and make Paradise more expensive, an analysis of property sales finds local developers rebuilding the town.
Locals Dave and Christine Williams are developing two lots in Paradise that were destroyed in the Camp Fire.
Michelle Wiley/KQED

For public good, not for profit.

In California's wildfire country, insurance is harder to come by

Oct 29, 2019
Insurance companies are dropping policies in high-risk areas.
A home burns during the deadly 2018 Camp fire in Northern California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Who pays for California's wildfires?

Oct 28, 2019
Multiple wildfires continue to burn in California, prompting evacuations, preventive power outages and a scramble for funds to pay to fight the fires.
A home burns during the deadly 2018 Camp fire in Northern California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Power shut-offs present unique challenges to low-income Californians

Oct 10, 2019
Power shutoffs aren’t wildfires or earthquakes, but for some they can be a kind of disaster.
A sign in Calistoga, California, calls on PG&E to turn the electricity back on during a statewide blackout in October 2019.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images