October Wildfires: City Of Santa Rosa Files Lawsuit Against PG&E

SANTA ROSA, CA — The city of Santa Rosa is suing Pacific Gas and Electric Co. — PG&E — to recoup costs resulting from the October 2017 wildfires, city officials said in a statement Tuesday night. The city filed the lawsuit Wednesday, July 11 in Sonoma County Superior Court. Below is the city's statement:

"Last October, the Tubbs and Nuns fires swept into our community, causing devastating loss to our City, our residents and taxpayers. On July 11, 2018, the City of Santa Rosa filed suit against Pacific, Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) in Sonoma County Superior Court, seeking compensation for damages resulting from those fires and their aftermath. The lawsuit not only seeks financial recovery from those responsible, but also provides an avenue for the City to join with others to compel PG&E to implement new safety measures to prevent future disasters.

"The State investigation of the fires has found PG&E to be at fault for numerous fires that originated in October 2017 throughout Northern California, and the City believes that PG&E will also be found to have contributed significantly to the cause of the Tubbs fire.

"Our City suffered tremendous social and economic loss and faces millions of dollars of expense for emergency response and recovery efforts, including the on-going work of rebuilding damaged infrastructure. We must take action to seek fair compensation and reimbursement from the responsible parties, so that our community can move forward toward full recovery and secure the future safety of our citizens.

"No further comment on the suit will be provided at this time."

The wildfires resulted in at least 43 fatalities in Sonoma, Napa and neighbhoring counties and damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 homes and other structures, thousands of which were leveled in Santa Rosa neighborhoods including Coffey Park and Fountaingrove.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones estimated the economic loss from the October 2017 Northern California wildfires at $1 billion — a figure he said represented the losses in commercial and residential structures, personal and commercial vehicles, and agricultural equipment.

In June, Cal Fire released a statement alleging PG&E power lines were linked to several of the fires.

PG&E Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said Wednesday morning in an email to Patch:

"Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our customers and communities we serve. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by these devastating wildfires. We are aware that lawsuits have been filed, and are reviewing this one filed by the city. We're focused on doing everything we can to help these communities rebuild and recover."

Photo by Al Francis/Napasonomaphotos.com