(San Francisco, CA, Thursday, November 8, 2018) – The 2017 California wildfires season was one of the most destructive on record in the state’s history. From January 1 through December 31, 2017, over 9,000 fires burned more than 1.2 million acres, and destroyed more than 10,000 structures.

Wildfire season is currently under-way in California and this year is predicated to be a challenging wildfire year. In fact, wildfires have already started to burn this year with the Carr fire in Northern CA, which damaged and destroyed more than 1,000 homes.

Here are some helpful tips that consumers can do to help prepare financially before a disaster:

1. It’s recommended to save important financial documents on a thumb drive, such as birth and marriage certificates, wills, deeds, tax returns, insurance policies, and stock and bond certificates.
2. Make a visual or written record of your possessions.
3. Photograph the exterior of your home, cars, boats, and recreational vehicles.
4. Consider setting up online banking, mobile banking, bill pay and electronic account alerts.
5. Have cash or an emergency fund.

If impacted by a disaster, here are some helpful tips for consumers:

1. Assess for property damage. If you sustained damage, call your lender and contact your insurance company right away to file a claim.
2. Work with reputable contractors who are properly bonded and licensed.
3. Make a list of damaged property and take pictures for possible tax deductions.
4. After the disaster relief period, you may need more time to recover, contact your

Wells Fargo is committed to helping customers and communities once a disaster occurs. Wells Fargo’s disaster assistance includes donations to the Red Cross and to local nonprofits in the market, mobilizing disaster trained specialists in bank locations to assist impacted customers and in some cases deploying our Mobile Response Unit to offer more face-to-face resources to help customers with the recovery process.