Insurance group sees 14,000 claims from California fires

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Roughly 14,000 insurance claims have been filed from last week's fire and wind storms in California, according to a research group for the property casualty insurance industry.

The Insurance Information Institute (III) said insurers may have to pay up to $1.6 billion in claims for fires that ravaged the state's homes, farms, vehicles and businesses.

The fierce Santa Ana winds, which drove the blazes throughout the southern end of the state, also caused damages of their own, the III said.

Insurers have sent disaster response teams to fire areas and set up claims teams at local assistance centers, III said.

As many as 24 separate wildfires ravaged more than 500,000 acres of California last week, destroying 2,300 buildings and causing at least 12 deaths and 78 injuries.