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An Oregon jury ordered PacifiCorp to pay $305 million to 16 wildfire victims as part of a class-action lawsuit stemming from the state’s devastating 2020 Labor Day weekend fires, according to the verdict reported by the Associated Press. The award was issued by a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury on Wednesday, and it covers victims tied to the Santiam Canyon fire in northwest Oregon, the report said. The overall case involves thousands of class members, with additional trials scheduled for years ahead.
The Wednesday verdict followed a separate 2023 trial in which a jury found PacifiCorp liable for negligently failing to cut power during a windstorm. In that earlier phase of the litigation, jurors determined the company did not cut power despite warnings from top fire officials, AP reported. The report said juries have ordered PacifiCorp to pay more than $1 billion in damages to members of the class so far.
Shawn Rabin, who led the trial team representing the plaintiffs, said the decision recognized the “devastation” the victims endured and “reaffirms the irreversible losses they’ve suffered as a result of the fires,” according to a statement he issued. PacifiCorp, in an emailed response, disputed the outcome and said the verdict was an “irresponsible outcome related to damages caused by a fire that PacifiCorp did not start or contribute to as determined by the Oregon Department of Forestry,” the report said.
PacifiCorp said it has been and will continue to challenge the verdicts, while the company’s appeal of the case is making its way through state court. AP also reported that more than 1,000 class members have cases set for trial in 2026 and 2027, indicating that the litigation’s timeline will extend well beyond the latest jury award.
The underlying 2020 Labor Day weekend fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, AP reported. The fires killed 11 people, burned more than 1,560 square miles (4,040 square kilometers), and destroyed thousands of homes, including those affected by the Santiam Canyon blaze.
The report said the Oregon Department of Forestry released a report last year finding that 12 of 19 fires in the Santiam Canyon area in September 2020 were caused by embers from another fire. It also said the other seven fires were caused by downed power lines but were determined not to have contributed to the spread of the large fires in the canyon; those fires, AP reported, were suppressed by residents or firefighters.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys described the Oregon Department of Forestry report as flawed and missing evidence, AP reported. Separately, the report said PacifiCorp has agreed to pay more than $2 billion to settle claims stemming from the 2020 blazes, including $575 million to the federal government for wildfire damages on federal land in Oregon and California.