PacifiCorp ordered to pay over $42M to more victims of the 2020 Labor Day Wildfires
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Ten victims of the 2020 Labor Day Wildfires were awarded over $42 million in damages by a Portland jury on Tuesday amid a class action lawsuit against PacifiCorp.
Tuesday’s verdict includes over $5 million in economic damages and over $23 million in non-economic damages, with both increasing by 25% for punitive damages.
This brings the total damages owed by the utility company to $220 million to 36 Labor Day Fire victims, with thousands of other class action lawsuit members waiting for additional trials.
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In a statement, PacifiCorp said, “The Labor Day 2020 fires were undeniably tragic. The safety of PacifiCorp’s customers and communities is our top priority. The company has settled hundreds of claims relating to the Labor Day 2020 fires and remains committed to settling all reasonable claims for actual damages under Oregon law.”
“Wildfires pose a catastrophic threat to communities, and require holistic solutions involving businesses, governments and other key stakeholders working together to design and implement enduring solutions for all Oregonians. For utilities, there is an ominous risk in making future investments in regions where they become the de facto insurers of last resort in a more frequent extreme weather environment. Some states that PacifiCorp serves are taking active steps now to ensure viability of their utilities and safe and reliable electricity service for their state. It is critical that all state utility regulators and political leadership in other states do the same,” the company continued.
In January, a jury awarded $85 million to nine other victims in the Labor Day Fires.
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The agreement also comes months after PacifiCorp’s $250 million settlement with timber companies, and a $300 million settlement with homeowners from separate wildfires in Southern Oregon.
“Three different juries have now spoken, and as much as the executives at PacifiCorp want to bury their heads in the sand, each jury has recognized the catastrophic loss that PacifiCorp’s actions have caused the survivors of its fires. We look forward to the next round of trials,” said Nick Rosinia of Edelson PC, a law firm representing the victims from Tuesday’s verdict.
Cody Berne with Stoll Berne — which also represents the plaintiffs– added, “PacifiCorp for years prioritized profits over the safety of people in the communities it serves. In the five years before the fires, PacifiCorp paid its owners at Berkshire Hathaway more than $3 billion in dividends. That was money PacifiCorp should have used to upgrade its equipment and operations. Instead, the survivors of its fires are suffering the consequences of PacifiCorp’s reckless and willful disregard for their communities. We are proud to advocate on behalf of the survivors and to help them hold PacifiCorp accountable.”
Though surrounded by wildfires nearly four years ago, Diane Turnbull, one of the 10 victims, didn’t expect the fire to reach her camp’s backyard.
Turnbull runs the Upward Bound camp out of Gates, a camp serving those ages 12 and up with physical and developmental disabilities. The camp was evacuated that night, but when she returned weeks later, almost everything was destroyed.
“The fence was lit on fire all the way around the property and it turned out that a tree had been blown over and hit the power pole,” she said. “That first walk on the campus was very, very difficult.”
The money will provide needed relief for Upward Bound as they’ve reopened with limited operations.
“With the money that comes from the lawsuits, and the money that comes from FEMA, we will be able to rebuild,” Turnbull said.
The deadly Labor Day Fires tore through 20 Oregon counties in 2020 — displacing thousands of people and burning nearly one million acres.
In June 2023, a jury found PacifiCorp liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from fire officials, saying its power lines were responsible for multiple blazes.
This is a developing story.
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