Timber Companies Sue PG&E For $225 Million Over Devastating Dixie Fire

The impact of wildfires in California has reached alarming levels, with devastating fires causing extensive damage to land, properties, and livelihoods. In a significant legal move, a coalition of timber companies has initiated a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), seeking around $225 million in damages. This lawsuit follows the catastrophic Dixie fire in 2021, which was ignited by a utility power line and has sparked outrage among affected parties.

As the legal battle unfolds, the timber companies, including Oregon-based Collins Pine Co. and its affiliates, allege that PG&E's negligence led to their significant financial losses. The complaint highlights the failure of PG&E to manage its electrical equipment and the surrounding forest adequately, which contributed to the fire's escalation and destruction.

The Dixie fire, noted as the second-largest in California's history, burned through nearly one million acres, devastating multiple counties. The situation raises crucial questions about corporate responsibility and the role of utility companies in wildfire prevention. As the affected businesses pursue justice, the outcome of this lawsuit may set a precedent for future accountability in the utility sector.

A coalition of timber companies has filed a lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. seeking roughly $225 million in damages from a 2021 fire sparked by a utility power line. The complaint, filed Wednesday by Oregon-based Collins Pine Co. and six affiliated timber businesses with property in the Collins Almanor Forest in Plumas and Tehama counties, alleges that PG&E failed to properly manage the forest and electrical equipment to prevent the devastating Dixie fire and that the businesses suffered massive financial damages as a result.

A 2022 investigation by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection found that the Dixie fire, the second largest in California history, “was caused by a tree contacting electrical distribution lines owned and operated” by the utility company. The timber companies claimed the fire, which burned through nearly 1 million acres in Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Lassen, and Tehama counties in the summer and fall of 2021, incinerated approximately 55,000 acres of their property, including “commercial-grade timber, trees of many species and ages (some over 200 years old), roads, structures, bridges, culverts, and many of the research plots.”

The Collins Pine Co. claimed that the fire burned through an additional 500 acres of land for which it owns timber rights and that its mill was “significantly injured” and timber supply ruined. The damages tally up to more than $225 million combined. The complaint,