Wildfire Today

Jury finds PacifiCorp liable for $71+ million

Kelly AnderssonJune 12, 2023June 13, 2023WildfireLabor Day Fires, Pacific Power, PacifiCorp12 Comments

The FINAL VERDICT in the PacifiCorp trial
is now posted on our DOCUMENTS page.

The jury in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland found PacifiCorp liable for four of the devastating Labor Day 2020 fires that burned about 2,500 properties in western Oregon. The 12-person jury, according to a report by the Statesman Journal, determined that PacifiCorp (Pacific Power) was negligent for causing the Santiam, Echo Mountain, South Obenchain, and 242 fires after a 7-week class action trial. Pacific Power is Oregon’s second-largest utility.

One of the Labor Day fires in 2020 — from an exhibit during the trial

The jury found that PacifiCorp was negligent to an entire class in the Santiam Canyon, Lincoln City, and southern Oregon areas. Lawyers argued that PacifiCorp’s power lines ignited numerous wildfires that burned thousands of homes during an extreme high wind event on Labor Day night of 2020.

“The trial revealed that PacifiCorp tried to cover up and destroy evidence of powerline-ignited fires in the Santiam Canyon,” said Sam Drevo, one of the plaintiffs, “including electrical fires in firefighter camps in Gates and Mill City, overwhelming firefighters, causing chaos and more loss.”

“I was shocked by how little the company’s top people claimed to remember,” Drevo said, “how they tried to pass the buck, and by how much evidence they admittedly destroyed after knowing their equipment started fires. They took zero responsibility, and they said they would do ‘nothing differently’ next time.”

Drevo said the Santiam Canyon will never be the same. “But I hope this verdict will help in the long-term healing and recovery of what took many lifetimes to build. I ask the State Fire Marshal and State Police to look into whether criminal charges are warranted for the destruction of evidence.”

OPB reported that jurors returned a nearly unanimous verdict today. After less than two days of deliberations, jurors found the company owes more than $71 million to the 17 plaintiffs in the case for losses related to the fires and emotional suffering. The jury also applied its liability finding to a larger class, including the owners of nearly 2,500 properties damaged in the fires, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. That determination could push the cost for damages to more than $1 billion.

The jury said PacifiCorp was at fault because the utility did not proactively shut down power, though several other utilities did, in the face of fire weather warnings, predicted high winds, and many reports and calls about arcing power lines and burning trees on power lines. The utility also failed to clear or maintain trees and other vegetation that its employees knew was a fire hazard.

PacificCorp argued that there was limited evidence its power lines caused the fires in question, but attorneys for the plaintiffs demonstrated that PacifiCorp employees in many cases had destroyed or hidden evidence, and utility employees had repeatedly trespassed onto the fire area — still under investigation — to remove or repair equipment despite repeated orders by the IC and other fire managers to stay clear of the closed area.

Ralph Bloemers, the director of Fire Safe Communities at Green Oregon, was among the first to report and document electrical fires in the Santiam Canyon in testimony to the Oregon Senate. He said fires driven by east winds in western Oregon are nothing new. These fires are a clear sign, though, that Oregon utilities need to prepare for wildfires in all areas of Oregon — whether a high or low fire frequency landscape, heavily populated or not.

“Western Oregon has a long history of wind-driven fire events, and these east wind fires can be very big, covering vast areas, burning where we haven’t seen fires in our lifetimes,” Bloemers said. “But big fires are part of these landscapes, and are now being amplified by extended drought and increased wind as the climate changes.”

Here is a youtube clip from Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire — which begins streaming tomorrow.

The Labor Day fires of 2020 burned more of the Oregon Cascades than had burned in the previous 36 years combined.

Because the jury found PacifiCorp negligent to entire classes, a second phase of the trial will allow people affected by the fires to claim damages, even if they were not involved as plaintiffs in this first phase.

OPB reported that Bob Jenks with the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which represents the interests of ratepayers, said the utility could not reasonably pass on the costs from Monday’s verdict to its customers because the jury found the company was grossly negligent. He said it may be possible that customers will have to pay more in the future if PacifiCorp decides to spend more money on tree trimming and other wildfire mitigation efforts.

Still, he said, the verdict was a clear message.

“To me, this was a pretty harsh verdict against PacifiCorp,” Jenks said. “It’s clearly sending the message to companies that you can be held liable.”

Investigators have still not, more than two years later, completed final investigations into the causes of those historic 2020 fires.

Metro firefighters train in wildland skills in Oregon

Kelly AnderssonJune 12, 2023June 12, 2023Trainingmetro, structural, wildland

Firefighters from several cities, towns, and metro areas in western Oregon headed to the woods last week to learn wildland firefighting skills so they can step in and help out when wildfire season kicks in this year.

About 25 agencies sent 125 firefighters to the 12th annual Metro Advanced Wildland School, which trains structural firefighters in wildland firefighting, according to a report by KPIC.com — and that report noted that for some, talking to a pilot in a helicopter is almost like learning a different language.

“We’re not typically used to doing that, outside of a medical evac,” said Rachel Brozovich, a Keiser Fire District captain. “We come from different backgrounds, so we have to have a common terminology. So that’s what we’re working on today is that common terminology and really clear communication.” She said communication is important with a water drop because water from the bucket falls with a force of eight pounds per gallon, so a 100-gallon bucket of water could hit firefighters with 800 pounds of force, enough to injure or even kill them.

And that would be one of the smaller buckets; larger buckets carry 1,000 gallons.

The training for these structural firefighters takes place on private property.

KGW-8 News reported that firefighters from a couple dozen different agencies met in Molalla, Oregon, on Friday, June 9 as part of a two-day Advanced Wildland School. “It’s one thing to talk about fire, it’s a whole different thing when you’re faced with it,” said Philomath Fire & Rescue Deputy Fire Chief Rich Saalsaa.

He said that’s just one reason that firefighters from the Willamette Valley and Portland metro areas met for training at the annual Metro Advanced Wildland School (MAWS). Techniques students practiced included use of hand tools, radio communications with a helicopter doing water drops, triaging homes, and extinguishing live fire. “Out in the wildland, out in a forest, if we don’t have ready water sources there, it’s you and your shovel and your axe, and be able to basically cut a line to stop the forward progress,” Saalsaa added.

He said the training will help crews not only on wildland fires but back at home as well. “We used to be deployed on four-day and seven-day conflagrations. Now, they’re 14 and 28 days. The Bootleg Fire was one of the largest we’ve had in the state of Oregon, that’s unfortunately becoming the norm now rather than the exception,” explained Saalsaa. He said the students at this training event are about 50-50 volunteers and career firefighters.

New Jersey crews busy catching fires

Kelly AnderssonJune 9, 2023June 9, 2023WildfireNew Jersey5 Comments

A 350-acre fire in Browns Mills, New Jersey is about 20 percent contained as of late Friday night, and crews are working to contain it. 6ABC-News reported that the fire’s burning in Burlington County, and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said the fire is near City Line Road in the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest.

Roads in the state forest are closed, and two structures were threatened; people were asked to avoid the area.

News12 New Jersey reported that crews are expected to be out through the weekend fighting the fire. It started Friday afternoon near City Line Road.

Crews were working on several spot fires and said the fire was moving fast and the wind made it hard to control.

This is the 10th major wildfire in New Jersey this year, and officials say they are hopeful this one will be fully contained by the end of the weekend.

Weary firefighters responded to two new wildfires in Burlington County late Friday morning, according to a report by New Jersey 101.5 News, and the state Forest Fire Service reported that crews were working on shoring up containment lines and planning a backfiring operation to burn fuels ahead of the main fire. The operation is expected to last much of the night.

A second fire along Route 37 eastbound in Manchester near the Pine Acres Manor Mobile Park was burning across from Leisure Village West Pine Lake Park. Manchester Police Capt. James Komsa said about 5:30 p.m. that this fire had been contained and no evacuations were needed.

This is the third large wildfire in Burlington County in the past two weeks in what has been a very active wildfire season in New Jersey.

Just a week ago the Flatiron Fire burned 82 acres; the Allen Road Fire in the Bass River State Forest burned around 5,000 acres the week before, and the Glory Fire burned 82 acres on Tuesday and Wednesday. Conditions remain dry — and conducive to rapid spread of fires — and an average of 1,500 wildfires burn about 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests each year.

Canadian smoke update

Bill GabbertJune 8, 2023June 10, 2023WildfireCanada, smoke

Residents of eastern Canada and the United States shared unhealthy air quality as hundreds of northern wildfires burn. On June 7, unhealthy to hazardous air advisories were issued for the capital cities of Ottawa, Ontario, and Washington, D.C., and for populations along the smoke paths.

The Fire and Smoke Map from AirNow offers an interactive map-based tool with local precautions. For Ottawa on June 7, AirNow sensors identified a hazardous air quality index (AQI) in the 400s for PM 2.5 (particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or smaller; the average human hair is 30 times larger than the largest of PM 2.5 particulates). Due to the hazard of such a PM 2.5 loading, an advisory was issued to avoid all outdoor physical activity.

AirNow sensors with unhealthy air quality from Ottawa, Ontario to Washington, D.C. Current map at fire.airnow.gov

In Washington, the AQI was unhealthy on June 7, with advisories to keep outdoor activities short and light, and to go indoors if you have symptoms. Sensitive groups should consider moving all activities indoors.

By the evening of June 8, the plume of unhealthiest air had shifted predominantly to the Northeast coast. In New York City, producers cited the effects of smoke when cancelling two Broadway shows and a Shakespeare in the Park performance. On June 6, New York City Mayor Eric Adams cancelled outdoor school activities. “We are taking precautions out of an abundance of caution to protect New Yorkers’ health until we are able to get a better sense of future air quality reports,” he said. “We recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible. Those with preexisting respiratory problems, like heart or breathing problems, as well as children and older adults may be especially sensitive and should stay indoors at this time.”

AirNow map for evening of June 8, 2023. Source: fire.airnow.gov

To track smoke risk, the IQAir Earth Map and the associated World AQI Ranking offer another set of monitoring tools, based on their IQAir network. As of June 7, their World AQI Ranking listed New York City as #2 and Detroit, Michigan as #5 as global cities with the worst air, with Toronto as #15. By the evening of June 8, New York City had dropped to #6, Toronto to #10, and Detroit to #24.

IQAir Earth map for June 7, 2023. Current map at www.iqair.com/us/earth.

in an article for The Conversation, Christopher T. Migliaccio, a research associate professor in toxicology at the University of Montana, wrote on smoke toxicity and precautions to consider when exposed to smoke:

If there is smoke in the air, you want to decrease your exposure.

Can you completely avoid the smoke? Not unless you’re in a hermetically sealed home. The PM levels aren’t much different indoors and out unless you have a really good HVAC system, such as those with MERV 15 or better filters. But going inside decreases your activity, so your breathing rate is slower and the amount of smoke you’re inhaling is likely lower.

We also tend to advise people that if you’re in a susceptible group, such as those with asthma, create a safe space at home and in the office with a high-level stand-alone air filtration system to create a space with cleaner air.

Some masks can help. It doesn’t hurt to have a high-quality N95 mask. Just wearing a cloth mask won’t do much, though.

The BlueSky Canada smoke forecast for June 8 through June 10 offers a specific two-day outlook that doesn’t promise an end to smoke, but indicates that the thickest production may alternate with lighter periods of smoke. By June 10, something like clear skies may appear over Detroit, and the thickest fingers of smoke, from the Quebec fires through Ottawa to New York City, will become more intermittent. A look at the timing of the heaviest smoke may help to plan outside activities during the hours of clearer air.

The BlueSky Canada forecast also shows continued fire and smoke in western Canada and Alberta.

The BlueSky Canada smoke forecast from June 8-10, 2023. For current forecast: firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

Colorado’s 2021 Marshall Fire investigation concluded

Kelly AnderssonJune 8, 2023June 8, 2023Wildfirecoal seams, Colorado, Marshall Fire, Twelve Tribes

Authorities today ended their year-and-a-half-long investigation into the cause of the 2021 Marshall Fire, concluding that Colorado’s most destructive wildfire in history actually had two separate ignition sources, one of which was six days before the fire grew out of control, with the other later originating from arcing power lines.

Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said the fire was first set on December 24, 2021 to burn branches and construction debris at a religious group’s compound on El Dorado Springs Drive. According to a Colorado Public Radio (CPR) report, that fire was inspected by the local fire department, which determined the fire had been extinguished correctly. But high winds six days later on December 30 uncovered hot ashes and reignited the fire. About an hour later, sparks from an Xcel Energy power line started a second fire about 2,000 feet away.

Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty said no criminal charges would be filed against either Xcel or the Twelve Tribes group. “We make our decisions based on evidence,” he said, “and not based on emotion. If we were to tell you we were filing charges today, it would be wrong and unethical.”

The Denver Post reported that the Marshall Fire was Colorado’s costliest; it destroyed $2 billion in property and killed two people.

High winds, even with occasional hurricane-force gusts, are not unusual in this foothills region of Colorado, where the eastern prairies meet the Rockies. According to a climate.gov report, the Marshall Fire ripped through suburban neighborhoods on the west side of the metropolitan area. Pushed by high winds and fueled by dry conditions, the fire burned more than 6,000 acres, killed two people, and destroyed over 1,000 homes. On the day of the windstorm, atmospheric pressure dropped sharply east of the Rockies, and strong downslope winds followed. At the base of the foothills west of Denver, wind gusts reached 100 miles per hour.

Johnson and Dougherty spent more than an hour Thursday morning laying out details of their investigation and how Dougherty came to the conclusion that no criminal charges would be filed.

Investigators found no evidence that members of the Twelve Tribes organization intended to start the Marshall Fire — or that Xcel Energy was negligent in maintaining its equipment, Dougherty said.

The Twelve Tribes Community is classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “Christian fundamentalist cult.” It has a local home in the foothills of the Rockies on Eldorado Springs Drive. “We gather every morning and evening to hear from our Creator through one another,” says the group’s website. “Devoted to the teachings and selfless life of our Master Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus of the Bible), we lay down our lives for one another (meeting each other’s needs first) to see His kingdom come to the earth. We work, rest, dance, laugh, and eat together as a family, enjoying one another’s fellowship.” The Denver Post published an in-depth look at the group a year ago.

At the request of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control, a Facilitated Learning Analysis on the fire was completed. The lengthy and detailed document is in a “storymap” format, which in this case includes many illustrations, photos, and maps.

Xcel, incidentally, is disputing the investigation’s findings, arguing that fires in underground coal deposits (not uncommon in Colorado) near their power lines may be responsible for the start of the second fire. “We strongly disagree with any suggestion that Xcel Energy’s power lines caused the second ignition, which according to the report started 80 to 110 feet away from Xcel Energy’s power lines in an area with underground coal fire activity,” said Xcel spokesman Tyler Bryant. “Xcel Energy did not have the opportunity to review and comment on the analyses relied on by the Sheriff’s Office and believes those analyses are flawed and their conclusions are incorrect.”

~ Thanks and a tip of the hat to Rick

PacifiCorp trial wraps up and goes to jury

Kelly AnderssonJune 8, 2023June 8, 2023WildfireLabor Day Fires, Pacific Power1 Comment

After seven weeks of detailed analysis about topics as far-ranging as fire plumes, fire behavior, firebrands, and metallurgy, jurors will now determine whether the electricity provider PacifiCorp should pay out for thousands of properties destroyed after an extreme east wind event during the 2020 Labor Day fires in western Oregon. The trial started back in April and wrapped up on Wednesday, June 7 in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland.

KGW-8 News reported that Pacific Power attorneys said the company shouldn’t be responsible for climate change, other wildfires’ spread actually ignited fires named in the lawsuit, and power shutoffs were both rare and a last resort. Lawyers for the plaintiffs who lost homes in the fires said Pacific Power had ample warning that windstorms could generate severe fire risk, including conversations with agency officials about power line de-energization.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys also said that the wildfire investigations are inconclusive because Pacific Power destroyed evidence of downed power lines and erased internal communications about its findings; the only skype messages that Pacific Power didn’t erase were found in discovery in a folder labeled “purges.”

Fire crew on the South Obenchain Fire -- Inciweb photo — Fire crew on the South Obenchain Fire — Inciweb photo

OPB reported that plaintiffs in the class-action case are requesting $1.6 billion in damages. They allege that PacifiCorp acted negligently by refusing to heed the extreme weather warnings and shut down its power lines. Attorneys have drawn connections between PacifiCorp’s decision to keep power on and the fires that ignited and burned across western Oregon. The Labor Day fires of 2020 burned more of the Oregon Cascades than had burned in the previous 36 years combined.

GOES 17 image Labor Day fires, September 8, 2020 — GOES 17 image of Labor Day fires, September 8, 2020 — click to view full-size NASA image.

“They have no real response to any of this,” attorney Cody Berne told the jury during closing statements. He said PacifiCorp started the fires. “They destroyed the evidence. And now they have come before you and are asking not to be held accountable.”

Beachie Creek Fire progression map. U.S. Forest Service map. Each line represents 24 hours of growth, but the map data begins on September 2, 2020 and does not show the preceding 18 days. It started in the black area.

Lawyers for those who lost their homes in the fires repeatedly asked the jury to hold the utility responsible for igniting the fires, according to the Statesman Journal. “This is a massive corporation that caused trauma to the state, destroyed entire parts of it, and they want you to find them responsible for nothing at all. They are taking no accountability — it’s unbelievable,” plaintiffs’ attorney Nicholas Rosinia told the jury on Wednesday. “They want you to say the survivors get nothing; their story doesn’t matter. Their homes and memories were erased … but to PacifiCorp that doesn’t matter.”

The full day of closing arguments wrapped up the trial in which jurors listened to testimony from witnesses and fire experts about whether PacifiCorp is liable for millions or even billions in damages after its power lines ignited the Santiam, Echo Mountain, South Obenchain, and 242 fires. Defense attorney Doug Dixon argued that the evidence showed limited reason to believe that the power lines caused the fires. PacifiCorp, which is owned by multinational corporation Berkshire Hathaway, took every reasonable precaution, Dixon said, and didn’t have the information to justify throwing entire communities into darkness during an emergency. “There’s no witness who came in and said based on the forecasts Pacific Power was receiving that it should have de-energized in this specific area of its service territory,” he said.

Jury to answer 23 questions: As the jury of 12 begin deliberations, they’ll fill out a form with 23 questions. The first and most important is whether PacifiCorp was negligent — defined as acting without reasonable care — for any or all of the fires. Jurors just check the “yes” or “no” box for all four fires.

Nine of the twelve jurors must agree for a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, otherwise the ruling will be in favor of PacifiCorp. Additional questions ask whether PacifiCorp’s alleged negligence caused harm, and whether the utility’s actions rise to the level of gross negligence — a lack of care that demonstrates reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others. Jurors will also discuss other questions before considering economic and other damages for the 17 lead plaintiffs who lost homes or property in the fires.