Broken power lines and strong wind led to violent forest fires in the village of Paradise in late 2018. 84 people died. The electricity supplier now concedes its responsibility to a US court.
San Francisco (dpa) - A year and a half after forest fires in California with over 80 deaths, the electricity supplier Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) pleaded guilty to negligent homicide.
The names of the 84 people who died in the Paradise village fire were read at a Butte County court. He would personally apologize "with great sadness and regret" for the pain, PG&E chief Bill Johnson said in court.
The so-called "camp" fire destroyed almost the entire village of Paradise in November 2018. More than 12,000 houses burned down. The fire was attributed to broken power lines. "Our equipment started the fire," Johnson said. Strong wind helped the flames to spread quickly.
In March the company had already agreed to pay a fine of around four million dollars. After further hearings this week, at which victims should also have their say, a judge wants to give a formal judgment. The district of Butte County had sued the company.
In 2019, PG&E had already agreed with those affected on compensation of around $ 25 billion. The claims of thousands of plaintiffs came from several wildfires in Northern California from 2015 to 2018.
California's largest utility company filed for bankruptcy in early 2019 with an estimated debt of more than $ 50 billion. Governor Gavin Newsom has sharply criticized the company. Years of mismanagement would have resulted in a dilapidated power grid. PG&E failed to make its facilities safer.