A California judge ruled Wednesday that there was enough evidence to put Pacific Gas and Electric (NYSE:PCG) on trial for four counts of involuntary manslaughter and felony charges of recklessly starting a fire for the September 2020 Zogg Fire in rural Shasta County.

The blaze killed four people, including a mother and her young daughter; burned more than 56,000 acres; and destroyed 204 structures. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) determined the fire started when a leaning gray pine tree fell onto a PG&E power line.

The Shasta County District Attorney said in its September 2021 criminal complaint that PG&E had failed in its “legal duty to safely operate electrical transmission and distribution lines in a manner that minimizes the risk of catastrophic wildfires” by failing to clear the tree.

The judge dismissed 20 of the original 31 charges, including those related to air pollution from the fire, but the DA’s office indicated it intended to press forward with the remaining counts.

“Following a seven-day preliminary hearing, Pacific Gas and Electric was held to answer today for multiple felony and misdemeanor criminal charges for its role in starting the Zogg Fire,” the prosecutor’s office said in a Facebook post. At its next court date on Feb. 15, PG&E “will be arraigned on the information, and a trial date may be set.”

The company could seek a negotiated settlement, but in a statement last week, it continued to argue it was not criminally liable for the fire.

“We believe PG&E did not commit any crimes,” the utility said, contending that its employees and tree-trimming contractors had exercised “good-faith judgment” in deciding not to cut down the pine tree.

When the charges were filed in September 2021, PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said the utility “accepted Cal Fire’s determination … that a tree contacted our electric line and started the Zogg Fire,” but “two trained arborists walked this line and, independent of one another, determined the tree in question could stay.”

“We trimmed or removed over 5,000 trees on this very circuit alone,” Poppe said at the time.

Another Case of Manslaughter?

The Zogg Fire was the second time that the state’s largest utility has been charged with manslaughter.

PG&E pleaded guilty in June 2020 to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of arson in the 2018 Camp Fire, which, along with a spate of fires in 2017, forced the utility into bankruptcy proceedings and led to a multibillion-dollar settlement with fire victims.

In August 2016, jurors convicted PG&E of six felonies stemming from the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, which killed eight people and destroyed part of a suburban San Francisco neighborhood. PG&E was not charged in the deaths; it was found guilty of obstructing a federal investigation and violating pipeline safety standards.

A federal judge sentenced the utility to five years’ probation starting in January 2017.

In April 2021, Sonoma County prosecutors charged the utility with five felonies and 28 misdemeanors from the October 2019 Kincade Fire, including “recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury” to firefighters and emitting harmful contaminants, such as wildfire smoke and ash, harming children.

Those charges were dropped after PG&E reached a $31 million settlement with the county and four affected cities.