Pacific Gas and Electric pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 11 charges stemming from the September 2020 Zogg Fire, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter and three felony charges of recklessly starting the wildfire.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) determined that a pine tree falling onto a PG&E power line ignited the 56,000-acre blaze in forested areas of Shasta and Tehama counties. It killed four people who could not escape the flames, including a mother and her 8-year-old daughter, and destroyed more than 200 structures.
PG&E said in a statement Thursday that it intends to fight the charges filed by the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office. The judge set a tentative trial date of June 6, but PG&E could settle the case rather than go before a jury.
“As we have stated previously, we accept Cal Fire’s determination that a tree falling into our powerline caused the 2020 Zogg Fire,” the utility said. “However, we believe PG&E did not commit any crimes, and that the conduct of our coworkers and contractors reflects good-faith judgment by qualified individuals. We have informed the court that we intend to defend ourselves against the remaining charges.”
On Feb. 1 a judge dismissed 20 of the 31 charges filed by the prosecutor’s office but said there was sufficient evidence to try PG&E for seven felonies and four misdemeanors. (See PG&E Can be Tried Again for Manslaughter.)
Under California law, involuntary manslaughter, a felony, is a category of homicide in which the defendant is alleged to have committed a lawful act “which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection.”
The district attorney’s office 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 damaged and dangerously leaning pine tree.
When the charges were filed, PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said “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.
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 Camp Fire, which destroyed much of the town of Paradise on the morning of Nov. 8, 2018. A 100-year-old C hook on a PG&E transmission tower broke, allowing a line to drop and spark dry vegetation below.
The Camp Fire and a spate of Northern California wine country fires in October 2017 forced the utility into bankruptcy and led to a multibillion-dollar settlement with fire victims.
