1,000 Oregon wildfire survivors seek $30 billion from PacifiCorp over 2020 wildfires

Zach Urness, Salem Statesman Journal
Updated ·2 min read
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On the night of Sept. 7, 2020, downed power lines ignited a fire at the Gates School and former Beachie Creek Fire incident command team post.
On the night of Sept. 7, 2020, downed power lines ignited a fire at the Gates School and former Beachie Creek Fire incident command team post.

One-thousand Oregon wildfire survivors are suing PacifiCorp for $30 billion in the latest lawsuit filed as part of the massive class action lawsuit over the 2020 Labor Day wildfires.

The complaint, filed Monday in Multnomah County court, lists 1,000 names of people impacted by four wildfires that a jury last year found the utility at fault for causing.

Victims are each seeking up to $5 million for economic damages, such as property or home loss, and up to $25 million for non-economic losses such as emotional distress.

In June 2023, a Multnomah County jury found PacifiCorp at fault for the ignition and spread of the Santiam-Beachie, Echo Mountain, South Obenchain and 242 fires. In that first case, the jury awarded $90 million to 17 wildfire survivors. The jury also ruled PacifiCorp was negligent to an entire class of about 2,500 properties or 5,000 people.

Since the original verdict, a series of "mini-trials" have moved forward with members of the class represented. In those cases, juries have awarded 18 plaintiffs $130 million.

The average award has been around $6 million.

The latest filing includes a much larger group and is known as a "mass complaint." It comes as the two sides — lawyers for wildfire survivors and PacifiCorp — are engaged in mediation ordered by the court.

PacifiCorp, Oregon's second largest utility, is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

There are no pending trials between the two sides and it's unclear how or when the 1,000 people listed in the complaint would move through the court system.

PacifiCorp has been steadfast that it will appeal the original jury's verdict. The utility objected to numerous aspects of the proceedings, both during the original trial, after the June verdict and during this year's mini-trials.

The company said it has filed an appeal on the “numerous issues stemming from the June 2023 court proceeding and intends to appeal this latest outcome because many of the fundamental problems with this case persist.”

Through in late February, the Portland-based utility had paid $735 million to settle wildfire claims by several hundred people and 10 timber companies. Buffett warned last year in his annual shareholder letter that wildfires could threaten the survival of utilities in a few states, an outcome he had not anticipated, Reuters reported.

Most recently, PacifiCorp settled with two Santiam Canyon timber companies — Freres Timber Co. and CW Specialty Lumber Co. — for an undisclosed amount of money.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 1,000 Oregon wildfire survivors seek $30 billion from PacifiCorp