5 counties sue PG&E for Dixie Fire

Five counties sued Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for an alleged role in the Dixie Fire -- now ranked the second largest wildfire in state history -- which began in July and has burned nearly one million acres.

"It's not just that utility-caused fires keep happening. It's that utility-caused fires have increased in frequency, in size, and in devastation over the last decade," plaintiffs' lawyer John P. Fiske said Friday. "The Dixie Fire is a sobering warning that these fires are getting larger and harder to combat, so the message is that it's so much more important to do everything possible to avoid ignition to begin with."

The utility's spokesman, James Noonan, noted Friday the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection "has not made a determination on the cause of the Dixie Fire, and we have not been able to review all of the evidence Cal Fire collected."

"As we've said previously," he added, "PG&E believes we operated our system prudently. We remain focused on further reducing wildfire risk and addressing extreme climate conditions across our service area. We are committed to doing everything we can to keep our customers and communities safe."

Fiske, Jason J. Julius, Victoria E. Sherlin and Taylor A. O'Neal of Baron & Budd PC teamed up with Dixon Diab & Chambers LLP and Washington & Washington in Chico to represent the counties of Plumas, Butte, Tehama, Shasta and Lassen against the investor-owned energy company in San Francisco County Superior Court. The counties allege the Dixie Fire began when a tree came into contact with a high voltage transmission line. The causes of action include nuisance, premises liability, trespass and public utility code violations.

The lawsuit accused the utility of using revenue from ratepayers to boost profits and compensate executives instead of investing in safer infrastructure. For the last three decades, the utility has been subject to many fines, penalties and convictions, and yet, "PG&E continues to display a shocking degree of arrogant complacency, refuses to modify its behavior, and continues to conduct its business with a conscious disregard for the safety of the public, including the public entity plaintiffs," the lawsuit states.

The complaint points to questions raised last month by Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup in San Francisco, who is overseeing the energy company's criminal probation. A PG&E employee told Alsup that he personally observed a tree on the utility's conductor line, and a fire at the base of that tree. In February, Alsup called the utility "a terror" to Californians.

The utility pleaded guilty last year to 84 counts of manslaughter for the 2018 Camp Fire that wiped out the small town of Paradise in Butte County. During the sentencing hearing, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said while he regretted no executives could be imprisoned, the utility remained on notice. If its conduct results in death again, the utility will be charged with murder, Ramsey said.

During that same sentencing hearing, Butte County Judge Michael R. Deems echoed Alsup. "If there was ever a corporation that deserved to go to prison, it's PG&E," Deems said.

Last month, the Shasta County district attorney filed 31 criminal charges against PG&E, alleging it had a role in the Zogg Fire that resulted in four fatalities. The company's chief executive officer, Patti Poppe, issued a statement saying that her heart went out to those impacted by the wildfires, but denied the company committed a crime.

The company filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 amid the staggering amount of wildfire liability lawsuits and exited bankruptcy in June 2020.