The Beaver Creek fire nears a golf course in the town of Sun Valley, Idaho. (Photo posted to Twitter by @tonylupino)

The towns of Ketchum and Sun Valley don’t have large populations, but they’re important to Idaho tourism — as well as places where celebrities have million-dollar homes. Against this backdrop, private insurance companies are joining the effort to push back the intense, dangerous Beaver Creek fire, which has consumed nearly 100,000 acres. Those companies have millions on the line — including your future premiums.

Insurers, which have a stake in the outcome regarding the hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate in Idaho, have sent in their own firefighting crews to provide structural protection, according to Blaine County Sheriff Spokeswoman Bronwyn Nickel

“There are private engines that insurance companies have sent in,” she said. “They’re on site. They’re working with our local firefighters and law enforcement.”

The Beaver Creek fire in Idaho is just west of the towns of Ketchum (pop. 2,700) and Sun Valley (pop. 1,400).

Evacuations have been under way, effectively killing the height of the summer recreation season for tourists and local businesses. This area of Idaho also serves as home and second homes for celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Fires are also close to resort communities in Aspen, Colo., and Park City, Utah.

But it’s not just about saving the homes of the haves versus the have-nots. When insurance companies have to pay out on those policies, the distribution of pain shows up in premium increases.

Wildfires have accounted for $13.7 billion in total economic losses and $7.9 billion in insured losses in the U.S. between 2002 and 2011 — that’s a 364 percent increase in the insured losses that occurred in the previous 10 years.

Additionally, some 10 million new homes were built in the wildland-urban interface between 2000 and 2010.

All this means that people living in fire-prone areas are going to find it increasingly difficult to find homeowner’s insurance, certainly more costly.

It’s already happening in many places in the West — particularly areas where there have been massive wildfires in the past few years.

“If people are moving into a class-10 [high-risk area]… they’re basically in no man’s land. It may be difficult for you to find insurance,” said Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

In Napa County, California, homeowners in the Berryessa Estates and Berryessa Highlands communities have been receiving notices that their insurance providers will drop fire protection coverage or drastically increase their rates.