Published
2 years agoon
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric said Monday it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California that killed 84 people and decimated three towns.
FILE – In this Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, file photo, sheriff’s deputies recover the body of a Camp Fire victim in Paradise, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric said Monday, March 23, 2020, it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California that killed 84 people and decimated three towns. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Butte County officials have said 85 people died in the Camp Fire. It wasn’t immediately clear why PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter instead of 85.
The utility filed for bankruptcy in 2018 as it faced billions of dollars in claims from people who lost family members, homes and businesses in wildfires in 2017 and 2018.
The utility has been struggling to emerge from one of the most complex bankruptcy cases in U.S. history and a deadline has been set for it to do so by June 30.
The Nov. 8, 2018 was fanned quickly by strong winds, forcing thousands of people to quickly flee as they tried to escape in their cars as flames from the narrow canyon communities. Survivors described caravans of vehicles engulfed by flames.
The dead were found in burned-out cars, in the smoldering ruins of their homes and next to their vehicles, apparently overcome by smoke and flames before they could get inside them.
In some cases, all that remained of the dead were charred fragments of bone so small that investigators used a wire basket to sift and sort them.
Dyer Points to 27 Million Reasons Fresno Opposes PG&E Rate Hike
Sierra Shocker: Castle Fire Destroyed 10% of World’s Giant Sequoias
1K LA Residents Still Under Evacuation Orders Amid Wildfire
$3,500 Grants Offered to Help Restaurants Rebound From COVID
PG&E Faces 33 Criminal Charges in Kincade Fire
Storm Brings Over 2 Feet of Snow to Yosemite. Sheriff Search Locates Overdue Campers.