Manslaughter charges filed against PG&E over Zogg Fire that killed 4
The Shasta County District Attorney's Office has filed criminal charges against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in connection with last year's Zogg Fire that killed four people.
Earlier this year, Cal Fire cited a pine tree into power lines owned by PG&E as the cause of the fire, which burned more than 56,000 acres in Shasta and Tehama counties after igniting last September. More than 200 structures were destroyed by the fire.
In a news conference, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett announced the 31 charges, including 11 felonies, against the company. She said in July that her office had determined that PG&E was “criminally liable” for last year’s Zogg Fire, which burned near Redding.
Bridgett said Friday that PG&E "had a duty" to remove the tree that caused the fire and "was reckless and criminally negligent."
"In this case, they failed to perform their legal duties," she said.
The four victims of the wildfire have been identified as:
- 8-year-old Feyla McLeod
- 79-year-old Karin King
- 46-year-old Alaina Rowe-McLeod
- 52-year-old Kenneth Vossen
Bridgett noted Friday that while criminal prosecutions of corporations aren't common, that "one of the primary reasons to charge a corporation criminally is a finding that illegal behavior is widespread, it's serious, it's offensive and it's so persuasive that the only appropriate action is criminal charges."
The filing also includes felony arson charges against PG&E for "recklessly igniting" three other fires, all occurring in Shasta County in the last year and a half before and after the Zogg Fire.
PG&E equipment has been found responsible for some of the most destructive wildfires in California history, including the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County that left more than 80 people dead. More recently, PG&E reported to California utility regulators that its equipment may have been involved in the start of the Dixie Fire burning in Northern California.
Company officials have acknowledged that PG&E hasn’t lived up to expectations in the past but said changes in leadership and elsewhere ensure it’s on the right track and will do better. They have listed a wide range of improvements that include using more advanced technology to avoid setting wildfires and help detect them quicker.
"We're putting everything we've got into preventing wildfires and reducing the risk. Though it may feel satisfying for the company of PG&E to be charged with a crime, what I know is the company of PG&E is people, 40,000 people who get up every day to make it safe and to end catastrophic wildfire and tragedies like this. Let’s be clear, my coworkers are not criminals. We welcome our day in court so people can learn just that," PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said in a prepared statement.
"I came to PG&E to make it right and make it safe, which is a commitment that my 40,000 coworkers and contract partners all share," Poppe's statement goes on to say. "We’ve already resolved many victim claims arising from the Zogg Fire, along with the claims by the counties of Shasta and Tehama. And we are working hard to resolve the remaining claims."
The utility remains on criminal probation for a 2010 pipeline explosion in the Bay Area city of San Bruno that killed eight people, giving a federal judge oversight of the company. The judge and California power regulators have rebuked PG&E for breaking promises to reduce the dangers posed by trees near its power lines.
PG&E emerged from bankruptcy last summer and negotiated a $13.5 billion settlement with some wildfire victims. But it still faces both civil and criminal actions.
In the meantime, most of the roughly 70,000 victims who have filed claims for devastation caused by PG&E’s past misdeeds still are awaiting payment from a trust created during the bankruptcy. The trust, which is run independently of PG&E, is facing a nearly $2 billion shortfall because half its funding came in company stock.
— The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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