PG&E caused many wildfires in California, including the state’s worst
State fire officials have determined PG&E power lines ignited the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County that destroyed 19,000 buildings, left tens of thousands homeless and killed 85 people. The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. Negligence, corruption, mismanagement, greed and criminal action by PG&E has left dozens of scarred communities, tens of thousands of victims and over 100 dead in the last decade alone.
2010 – The San Bruno pipeline explosion killed 8 people and injured 58 others. PG&E was found at fault for the blast in a national investigation which uncovered that the pipeline, installed in 1956, did not even meet the standards of that time.
2014 – PG&E was fined $37.5 million by the CPUC for the Carmel Gas Explosion.
2015 – PG&E was found responsible for the Butte Fire which killed 2 people.
2016 – PG&E became a convicted felon. The company was found guilty on six federal felonies, including obstruction of the investigation into the San Bruno Disaster, was placed on probation until 2022, paid a $3 million fine, and was sentenced to 10,000 hours of community service.
2017 – PG&E was found responsible the Cascade, Redwood Valley, Sulphur, Cherokee, 37, Blue, Atlas, Norrbom, Adobe, Patrick, Pythian, Nuns, and Pocket Fires, which all occurred in Northern California in October 2017. Damages totaled 184,353 acres burned, 3,805 structures destroyed, and 26 lives lost. PG&E was initially cleared of blame for the Tubbs Fire, which also took place in October 2017, but later accepted responsibility.
2018 – PG&E’s electrical transmission lines malfunctioned on a dry hillside near a canyon, sparking the Camp Fire that killed 85 people and destroyed more than 13,900 homes. PG&E plead guilty to 85 counts, including involuntary manslaughter.
2019 – PG&E was fined $125 million for its role in the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County.
2019 – PG&E was fined $1 million for the Easy Fire.
2020 – PG&E was charged with involuntary manslaughter and recklessly starting the Zogg Fire. The fire burned 88 square miles of land and more than 200 homes. PG&E agreed to pay $50 million in a settlement that led to criminal charges being dropped.
2020 – PG&E settled a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of 32 of the 36 people who died in the December 2016 Ghost Ship warehouse fire.
2021 – PG&E agreed to pay more than $55 million to avoid criminal prosecution for their role in the Dixie Fire, the largest single-source wildfire in California state history.
