Collins Pine Co. and several affiliated companies have filed a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric utility seeking compensation for property and business losses stemming from the Dixie Fire in July 2021, which was caused by PG&E’s equipment and negligent operations, according to the complaint.

       The complaint, filed with the Superior Court of the State of California in the County of San Francisco, alleges that PG&E recklessly failed to repair and operate its electrical equipment, and failed to maintain an appropriate clearance between its electrical equipment and surrounding vegetation and forests.

       The Dixie Fire was the largest single wildfire in California and one of the largest in U.S. history. It burned nearly 1 million acres and took three months to contain.

The complaint pertains to the Collins Almanor Forest and property damages in Plumas and Tehama counties and potential income from those properties. The property in the complaint includes 55,000 acres of commercial-grade timber, roads, structures, bridges, culverts, etc. destroyed by the Dixie Fire. Collins Pine owns portions of the Collins Almanor Forest as well as timber rights. It also owns a sawmill in Chester, Calif. that receives timber from the Collins Almanor Forest.

       According to the complaint, the Dixie Fire ignited near the border between Butte and Plumas counties as a result of contact between a Douglas fir tree and PG&E’s 12kV distribution line, and in particular at that portion of PG&E’s system known as the Bucks Creek 1101 12kV Overhead Distribution Circuit, which connected power to the Cresta Dam, a California Dept. of Transportation tunnel, and railroad equipment. Before it fell, the tree showed outwardly visible decay from fire in recent years, and should have been removed through PG&E wildfire mitigation, according to the complaint; although the tree fell against the conductors and caused a fault early in the morning, PG&E did not arrive at the scene until 10 hours later, when it observed a fire on the ground near the base of the tree.

       In addition to timberlands and related forest infrastructure damages, the operation of the Collins sawmill suffered injury because of the damage to the mill’s main timber supply. Collins subsequently acquired additional timberlands to supply the mill and sustained additional transportation and log yard costs.

The complaint says forest and sawmill damages amount to at least $228 million. In addition, the complaint says the fire caused an environmental damage, including wiping away soils that the forest owners had maintained for nearly a century, diminishing the forest’s ability to sequester carbon and absorb and retain rainfall to recharge waterlands; lowered the nutritional content available to support healthy vegetation; and destroyed a diverse ecosystem. These monetary damages will be determined moving forward, according to the complaint.

       The complaint says PG&E was aware that their equipment, along with weather and other conditions, could ignite a wildfire, given an extensive history of their equipment igniting several wildfires over the years under conditions and circumstances similar to the Dixie Fire.