County sues PG&E over Dixie Fire

OROVILLE » Butte County, along with four other involved counties, announced Wednesday that it is suing PG&E for damages and injury created by the Dixie Fire.

The county is joined by Plumas, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama counties as co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit which was filed through the San Francisco Superior Court, the court that heard cases for the North Bay, Kincade and Zogg fires.

“The lawsuit demands legal damages for injuries to public resources, natural resources, lost revenues, increased expenses, lost assets, injuries to infrastructure such as roads and water systems, and other injuries and damages.” said a press release issued Wednesday by Butte County.

The Dixie Fire burned an outline larger than Rhode Island, the release said. The lawsuit claims that the fire was caused by PG&E equipment.

County Counsel Bruce Alpert as well as outside counsel John Fiske and Ed Diab will be representing Butte County in the case.

“Butte County brings this action to recover public and natural resources lost because PG&E failed to manage and maintain its high voltage infrastructure,” Alpert said.

Butte County Supervisor and Chair Bill Connelly commented on the action.

“Unfortunately as local elected officials we have to again bring PG&E to task over a preventable fire,” Connelly said.

As of Wednesday, Cal Fire is still trying to identify the cause of the Dixie Fire, though the release from Butte County said evidence is leading toward PG&E equipment being at the source of the blaze.

“PG&E’s most important responsibility is the safety

of our customers and the communities we serve. Cal Fire 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,” said PG&E spokesman James Noonan. “As we’ve said previously,

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.”