Oregon utility sued over damage from the devastating wildfire that burned 470 homes and left 8 people dead
Two lawsuits have been filed against the local power company, blaming the utility for the extent of the damage caused last year by Oregon’s Beachie Creek fire.
The fire, which ignited in August and burned through the end of October 2020, destroyed nearly 200,000 acres. More than 1,300 structures, including 470 homes, and at least 8 lives were lost to the fire, according to the lawsuits.
More than 100 plaintiffs are named in the suits, which claim that PacifiCorp did not take wind advisories in the area seriously enough and arguing that downed electrified power lines caused the fire to grow quickly. Investigators have not released an official cause of the fire.
“The Beachie Creek fire could have been prevented had PacifiCorp properly maintained its equipment or instituted a public safety power outage (i.e., de-energizing),” the lawsuits say. “Instead, PacifiCorp kept its improperly maintained power lines energized even after receiving a multitude of warnings days before high winds toppled its improperly maintained electric infrastructure.”
In a statement to CNN, PacifiCorp spokesman Drew Hanson said, “As a company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation.”
Ahead of the Labor Day weekend in which the fire exploded, the US Drought Monitor indicated that parts of the country were in moderate to severe drought, the lawsuits say. The US National Weather Service had also issued several red flag, excessive heat and heat advisory warnings.
“PacifiCorp understood the severity of these weather conditions and chose to warn its customers but failed to take preemptive measures (or any measures at all) designed to prevent fire risks,” the suits say.
The lawsuits, which were filed by the law firms of Edelson PC and Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton, seek more than a billion dollars in damage for the property damage, economic losses and disruption to people’s lives.
“They are left not knowing where they will sleep, whether they will be able to afford temporary shelter, or whether they will even be able to rebuild their lives, all amid a dangerous pandemic,” the lawsuits say.
In September, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the fire “could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state’s history.”
Environmentalist George Atiyeh was one of the victims of the fire after flames erupted overnight in the area where his home was located.
The fire began in the Opal Creek Wilderness, a 20,000-acre refuge of steep and rugged forested hillsides, according to the Forest Service.
The wilderness refuge was protected by federal legislation in 1996 after activists, including Atiyeh, pushed back against plans to open the area for logging.
