Several victims of the wildfire raging in Northern California have filed suit against one of the state’s largest utilities — accusing it of causing the deadly blaze.
The residents are targeting Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in their San Francisco County Superior Court suit, which was filed late Tuesday and claims the power company failed to maintain its infrastructure and properly inspect and manage its transmission lines, leading to the Camp Fire.
Last week, PG&E told state regulators that it had experienced a problem with a transmission line in the area where the blaze sparked, right before it erupted.
Betsy Ann Cowley, who lives near where the inferno began and is not involved in the suit, said PG&E notified her the day before the wildfire that crews needed to come onto her property to inspect wires that were sparking.
The lawsuit calls the company’s safety record an “abomination” and claims the utility has “developed a regular pattern placing its own profits before the safety” of California residents.
One of the lawyers involved in the case, Mike Danko, told the San Francisco Chronicle he believes this is just the first of many lawsuits the utility will face in connection with the blaze.
“They’ve destroyed people’s lives, killed people and burned down many houses — in fact, an entire town,” Danko said of PG&E. “At some point, there has to be accountability.”
State investigators haven’t yet determined what caused the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history. They’re probing whether PG&E was complying with regulations in areas impacted by the fire, as well as investigating the utility to the south, Southern California Edison, which also reported electrical equipment malfunctions near the start of the major blaze there.
PG&E noted in a statement in response to the suit that the cause of the Camp Fire hasn’t been established and said it was focused on addressing the emergency.
PG&E shares have lost more than a third of their value since the Camp Fire broke out Thursday, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 48 people.
With Post wires
