San Francisco utility sued for negligence in wildfires

Associated Press

BURLINGAME, Calif.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was blamed in three lawsuits filed Tuesday for negligence in the wildfires that killed more than 40 people and destroyed more than 8,000 homes in Northern California last month.

The lawsuits allege the San Francisco-based utility and its parent PG&E Corp. put profits over safety by failing to trim trees and vegetation around power lines and didn’t maintain aging equipment that contributed to the deadly series of wind-driven fires that broke out Oct. 8 and raged across several counties, including the heart of wine country.

The suits were filed on behalf of three couples who lost their homes in the fires, including former San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan and a couple hospitalized after surviving the fire by floating in their swimming pool for hours and dunking underwater repeatedly to escape the extreme heat as flames blew around them and destroyed everything they owned.

A PG&E spokesman didn’t comment directly on the latest round of lawsuits filed in San Francisco Superior Court over the fires, but said the utility was doing everything it could to help communities rebuild.

The state Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention has not determined the cause of the fires yet, but has mentioned that PG&E is among the potential causes they’re investigating.

In response to previous suits from the fire, PG&E said in a court filing that a private power line may have sparked the fire that killed 21 people and destroyed more than 4,400 homes in Sonoma County.