The California wildfires could drive up premiums and prompt a new wave of private insurers dropping policies or declining to write new ones.

Wednesday's firestorm in a wealthy area of Los Angeles could be the final straw that breaks California's insurance market. The state's insurance market has been teetering on the edge of insolvency for years thanks to catastrophic wildfires that have driven many insurers to stop writing new policies and drop existing ones.

Republicans are seizing on the catastrophic wildfires that tore through the Los Angeles area early Wednesday, blaming Democratic policies for the deadly, wind-fueled conflagrations that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.