PacifiCorp Agrees to Pay out $299 Million in Labor Day Fire Lawsuit

Firefighters watch the Bear Fire approach in Oroville, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. The blaze, part of the lightning-sparked North Complex, expanded at a critical rate of spread as winds buffeted the region.They work 50 hours at a stretch and sleep on gymnasium floors. Exploding trees shower them with embers. They lose track of time when the sun is blotted out by smoke, and they sometimes have to run for their lives from advancing flames. Firefighters trying to contain the massive wildfires in Oregon, California and Washington state are constantly on the verge of exhaustion as they try to save suburban houses, including some in their own neighborhoods. AP Photo/Noah Berger

Electricity company PacifiCorp has agreed to pay $299 million to some of the victims affected by the 2020 wildfires in southern Oregon, ending one of several lawsuits alleging the utility is partly responsible for the destruction.

In a Dec. 5 press release, PacifiCorp said it had reached a nearly $300 million settlement agreement with 463 plaintiffs impacted by the 2020 Archie Creek fire in Douglas County, Oregon. In an accompanying statement, the company said the “safety of our employees, customers and communities remains our top priority.”

“PacifiCorp has settled and is committed to settling all reasonable claims for actual damages as provided under Oregon law and will continue to advance its positions in other proceedings to ensure fair and appropriate outcomes,” the company said.

“These settlements are in addition to settlements with other individuals and businesses, and hundreds of insurance claims PacifiCorp settled where homeowners and businesses have received insurance payments for their real and personal property damages and alternative living expenses.”

The power company has faced several civil lawsuits since the 2020 fires. A common thread among the affected property owners and residents are allegations PacifiCorp negligently failed to shut off power to its 600,000 customers during a windstorm over Labor Day weekend in 2020.

Smoke and small fires in a neighborhood in Talent, Ore., Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, as destructive wildfires devastate the region. Paula Bronstein/AP Photo

The lawsuits claims PacifiCorp’s actions resulted in several fires igniting when the power lines fell in the storm, eventually growing into the infernos that engulfed the state. Years later, the fires are still among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, claiming nine lives and destroying upward of 5,000 homes and other structures.

The original trial date for the Archie Creek fire case was scheduled for Jan. 30. This agreement avoids the trial and any possibility of the plaintiffs receiving a more significant sum that could have included non-economic and punitive damages. So far, none of the plaintiffs has addressed the latest settlement publically. However, Mikal Watts, the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in this case, released a media statement praising PacifiCorp for settling.

“I want to congratulate the new CEO and the Oregon’sCounsel of PacifiCorp for stepping up and doing the right thing by their ratepayers who lost their homes during the Labor Day 2020 fires,” Mr. Watts said.

“Today’s settlement is the result of one thing—good lawyers and good corporate leadership,” he added.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Mr. Watts again praised Pacificorp CEO Cindy Crain and the company’s general counsel, Ryan Flynn, for their work.

“This utility did the right thing here, and they are to be applauded for fairly compensating their ratepayers whose homes burned down in the 2020 Labor Day fires,” he said.

The statement starkly contrasts the criticism being leveled at PacifiCorp by lawyers in the other lawsuits. According to Robert Julian, the other lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Archie Creek fire civil lawsuit, the appointment of Cindy Crane, a 28-year veteran with the utility in September, marked a turning point in the settlement discussions.

Derek Trenton and Shawna Haptonstall look at the ruins of Derek's parents home as wildfires devastate the region, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 in Talent, Ore. Paula Bronstein/AP Photo

PacifiCorp’s decision to settle comes in the wake of an Oregon jury finding the company grossly negligent and its conduct reckless in a similar civil lawsuit in June. The courts decided PacifiCorp should pay almost $72 million in damages to the plaintiffs in that case. PacifiCorp has vowed to appeal the verdict. More trials for other lawsuits regarding the same matter are scheduled for next year.

The Epoch Times has contacted the plaintiff’s lawyers in the Archie Creek fire case and PacifiCorp for further comment.

This report has been updated with additional information.