The owners of a private Oregon forest are suing Pacific Gas and Electric for damages from the 2021 Dixie Fire, which burned 55,000 acres of their trees, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Owners of Collins Almanor Forest are seeking about $228 million in injuries and damages in San Francisco County Superior Court. The Dixie Fire, which the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined was sparked by a large Douglas fir that fell on PG&E equipment, was the second-largest in California history, burning nearly a million acres across five Northern California counties.
The suit highlights the continuing costs and risks to PG&E of dealing with wildfires that have become more common and more severe due to climate change. A $13.5 billion settlement agreement over the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 84 people, contributed to PG&E’s bankruptcy the following year; the company agreed to pay $25 billion for wildfire-related losses as part of its plan to exit bankruptcy.
Cal Fire’s 2022 report on the Dixie Fire said the fire was ignited at 6:48 a.m. on July 13, 2021, but wasn’t discovered until a PG&E worker arrived at 4:55 p.m.
