(Adds estimate by Insurance Information Institute, numbers of evacuees, homes lost, acres burned, background) By Ed Leefeldt NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Wildfires raging through Southern California should not cause major losses for home insurers such as Allstate Corp <ALL.N>, Nationwide <NFS.N> and State Farm, according to a report by Goldman Sachs analyst Thomas Cholnoky on Tuesday. "Most of the more traditional writers (of home insurance) have explicitly avoided writing any exposures in 'brush' defined areas," Cholnoky said in a research note. He said that while it was too early to assess insurer losses, it appeared that "non-traditional" companies and markets such as London-based Lloyd's might bear the brunt of the losses. "Given the losses to date, the largely uncontrolled nature of the fire and experience with past events, insured damages from the California wildfires could exceed $500 million," Loretta Worters, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute (III), said in a statement. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina cost the insurance industry $41 billion from 1.75 million claims, according to the III. More than 500,000 people have evacuated, more than 1,250 homes have been lost in San Diego and some 6,800 homes are threatened state-wide. As of late afternoon on Tuesday, some 300,000 acres (121,000 hectares) had burned. Nearly 20 fires have been reported since Sunday from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. Asked if they were able to assess the insured damages so far, Allstate, Nationwide, Start Farm and Lloyd's said they could not do so while fires were still raging. U.S. insurers might be liable for insured damages in places where winds have driven fires from outlying areas, Cholnoky said. He noted that the average cost of homes in the affected areas was about $500,000, meaning that every 100 homes lost would generate $50 million in insurance losses. Seven of the 10 most expensive wildfires in U.S. history, as defined by insurance losses, have occurred in California, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a group that provides industry statistics. The largest, in Oakland and Alameda Counties in 1991, resulted in more than $2.5 billion in insured damages (in 2006 dollars). (Additional reporting by Dan Burns)
