PG&E Will Plead Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in Deadly Camp Fire, Says Report
Jamie Ross Reporter
Updated Mar. 23, 2020
Pacific Gas & Electric will plead guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter charges for its role in starting the deadly Camp Fire in California two years ago, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Camp Fire, which claimed the lives of 85 people, was the most destructive and deadly wildfire in state history.
An indictment in Butte County charged the company with 84 counts of manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire.
A grand jury concluded that one person died by suicide as the fire closed in, resulting in the 84 manslaughter counts.
The grand jury’s indictment came at the end of a yearlong criminal investigation led by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, who said: “PG&E acted with criminal negligence, which is a much higher standard than ordinary negligence...
They acted in a way that created a high risk of death.” California fire investigators previously said the blaze started after a worn piece of metal fell from a transmission tower, releasing a power line that sparked and lit fire to the brush below.
Read it at The Wall Street Journal
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