Oregon Jury Finds Electric Utility Company PacifiCorp Liable for 2020 Wildfires

The melted sign of the Oak Park Motel destroyed by the flames of the Beachie Creek Fire east of Salem, Ore., on Sept. 13, 2020. Rob Schumacher/AFP via Getty Images

Electric utility company PacifiCorp has been found liable by an Oregon jury for causing four devastating wildfires in the state in 2020.

The 12-person Multnomah County jury found the Portland-headquartered company—which is the state’s second-largest electrical utility—grossly negligent and its conduct reckless, and determined that PacifiCorp should pay out almost $72 million in damages to various victims, The Oregonian reported.

The payment stems from a $1.6 billion class action lawsuit filed against PacifiCorp by 17 property owners and survivors of the Santiam Canyon fire east of Salem, the Echo Mountain fire near Lincoln City, the South Obenchain fire in Jackson County, and the 242 fire in Klamath County.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit (pdf) argued that PacifiCorp failed to cut off power to its 600,000 customers during a Labor Day windstorm, despite warnings from officials, which led to power lines toppling and fires igniting, causing deaths and destroying dozens of homes.

PacifiCorp, they said, “knew about the risk of catastrophic wildfire from their power line infrastructure and knew what they could do to address it, but they chose not to act.”

As a result, the lives of “thousands of Oregonians” were changed forever “because of one corporation’s inexcusable and indefensible wrongdoing,” plaintiffs wrote in their lawsuit.

“By leaving its power lines energized during extremely critical fire conditions on Labor Day—knowing that a historic windstorm would bring trees down onto power lines and ignite uncontrollable fires—PacifiCorp and Pacific Power caused devastation and destruction on a massive scale,” they wrote.

Larry Weyand (L) hugs Darwin Seim in front of Weyand's burned mobile home at the Clackamas River RV Park in Estacada, Ore., on Sept. 14, 2020. Multiple wildfires continued to burn in Oregon as thousands remained evacuated across the West. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

‘Life Will Never Be the Same’

“PacifiCorp and Pacific Power have caused Plaintiffs, the class members, and their communities to suffer devastating property damage, economic losses, and disruption to their families, homes, communities, livelihoods, businesses, and well-being. Life will never be the same for the thousands of victims of Defendants’ fires,” they wrote.

In response, PacifiCorp argued that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that its equipment was to blame for the fires. It also defended its fire prevention efforts, claiming that shutting down the power would have been a last resort and was not necessary based on the information it had.

Jurors, who also found the company’s conduct was willful, and constituted a private nuisance and public nuisance, awarded the plaintiffs $4.4 million for economic damages and $67.5 million in noneconomic damages for pain and suffering, according to The Oregonian.

However, PacifiCorp could be looking at paying out more after the jury found that other plaintiffs who said that the fires damaged approximately 2,400 properties could also bring claims against the company in future court proceedings.

Punitive damages for all plaintiffs have yet to be determined.

The 2020 wildfires in Oregon burned through about 1,900 square miles (1.22 million acres) of land and destroyed an estimated 5,000 or more buildings. Nine people were also killed.

A firefighter works through the remains of a burned-out house in Estacada, Ore., on Sept. 14, 2020. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

PacifiCorp Vows to Appeal

The exact cause of the fires has not yet been determined.

PacifiCorp said in a statement on June 12 that it would appeal the jury’s decision.

“As a result of the historic and tragic wind event of Labor Day 2020, many of our fellow Oregonians suffered losses to their homes, businesses, and communities,” the company said. “Regardless of the outcome, a trial will never fully restore what was lost. We are proud to have told the story of our incredible employees, who meet the call to service every day in support of our communities and customers and did so in the face of the preexisting, lightning-caused Beachie Creek fire that roared into the Santiam Canyon causing widespread damage that weekend.”

PacifiCorp, which is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, added that wildfires remain a “complex issue” and pose a continued risk in Oregon and the West.

The company blamed “escalating climate change, challenging state and federal forest management, and population growth in the wildland-urban interface” as contributing risks to wildfires.

“These systemic issues affect all Oregonians and are larger than any single utility, such as Pacific Power,” the company said. “A holistic perspective and public-private leadership will be essential to adapt society to natural disaster risks. As we look to recent events in California that have impacted the availability of routine property insurance for residents and businesses and wildfire smoke from Canada affecting the Northeast U.S., it is critical that we all work together to protect Oregonians through constructive, enduring solutions.”

Reuters contributed to this report.