California’s power utility charged in 2019 wildfire
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California prosecutor filed 33 criminal charges Tuesday against troubled Pacific Gas & Electric for a 2019 winddriven wildfire officials blamed on the utility, accusing it of injuring six firefighters and endangering public health with smoke and ash.
The company denied that it committed any crimes even as it accepted that its transmission line sparked the blaze.
The Sonoma County district attorney charged the utility with five felony and 28 misdemeanor counts in the October 2019 Kincade Fire north of San Francisco. The blaze burned more than 120 square miles and destroyed 374 buildings.
The 33 charges include recklessly causing a fire that seriously injured six firefighters, named only as John Does #1-#6. Among the firefighters injured were a member of an inmate fire crew and at least two out-of-state contractors, one of whom suffered second- and thirddegree burns to his legs and torso.
Fire officials said a PG&E transmission line sparked the fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes and caused nearly 100,000 people to flee. It was the largest evacuation in the county’s history, prosecutors said, including the entire towns of Healdsburg, Windsor and Geyserville.
The utility said it hadn’t seen the report or evidence gathered by state fire investigators, but it will accept the finding that its transmission line in the Geysers Geothermal Field northeast of Geyserville caused the fire “in the spirit of working to do what’s right for the victims.”
“However, we do not believe there was any crime here,” the company said in a statement.
“We remain committed to making it right for all those impacted and working to further reduce wildfire risk on our system.”
It thanked firefighters, including those who were injured, and said it was grateful that no one died.
The company serves more than 16 million people across much of Northern California. PG& E Corporation Chief Executive Officer Patti Poppe said in her own statement that she came to the company in January to “make it safe again in California. We will work around the clock until that is true for all people we are privileged to serve.”
The charges and related enhancements accuse the company of destroying inhabited structures and emitting air contaminants “with reckless disregard for the risk of great bodily injury” from toxic wildfire smoke and related particulate matter and ash, thereby endangering public health.
Prosecutors said smoke brings an increased risk of stroke as well as serious respiratory problems, including worsening asthma in children. They allege the utility failed to maintain facilities including transmission lines, among the numerous related misdemeanor charges.