PG&E sued for Redwood Valley couple’s death

SAN FRANCISCO — Families of two people killed when one of the wine country fires hit the couple’s home in Mendocino County filed the first wrongful death lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court against Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

The fire trapped Steve Stelter and Janet Costanzo inside their Redwood Valley home on the morning of Oct. 9. They died as a result of injuries sustained while they tried to escape, including burns and smoke inhalation, the lawsuit states.

“These families want justice and accountability,” said Mary Alexander of Mary Alexander & Associates PC,, representing the families in both suits. “This is just a senseless loss of life that could have been prevented. They want to hold PG&E accountable.”

Similar to other survivors who lost their homes in the Northern California wildfires, the plaintiffs — which include Stelter’s brother and Costanzo’s niece — claim PG&E failed to maintain electrical equipment and trim surrounding vegetation, which the plaintiffs say sparked the fires when power lines were knocked over because of high winds.

The complaints seek unspecified damages for the wrongful deaths, damage to property, and emotional suffering. Winkle et al. v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company et al., CGC-17-562366 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 8, 2017); Hollinger et al. v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company et al., CGC-17-562380 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 8, 2017).

“We are aware that lawsuits have been filed,” said PG&E spokesperson Ari Vanrenen. “There has been no determination on the causes of the fires.”

Alexander said a preventative measure PG&E could have employed was to shut off the power to communities the fires were expected to hit.

“They didn’t want to cut off the power,” Alexander said. “One of the excuses has been, ‘Well, then the garage doors don’t open and people can’t get out.’ They were saying other injuries would have resulted if they cut the power, but nothing this catastrophic would have happened.”

Britt Strottman of Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson PLC, who represented several Calaveras County residents against PG&E for the Butte fire in 2015, said it might be too early to tell if PG&E is at fault for the fires, as Cal Fire and the California Public Utilities Commission have yet to publish their investigations.

“It’ll turn on whether the plaintiffs’ experts had a comprehensive investigation and whether the investigators are qualified,” Strottman said.

Alexander filed a similar suit against PG&E on Nov. 2 on behalf of 12 survivors from Redwood Valley who lost their homes.