Five Counties File Joint Lawsuit Against PG&E Over Dixie Fire Damage

BUTTE COUNTY (CBS13) — Five Northern California counties have joined together to sue PG&E for the injuries and damage done by the Dixie Fire.

The wildfire started back in July and has gone on to burn 963,276 acres - the largest non-complex fire in recorded California history - across parts of Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Lassen and Tehama counties. One fatality has been confirmed in the fire and 1,329 structures, including many homes, were destroyed.

A preliminary report from PG&E acknowledged that its equipment may have been involved in the start of the Dixie Fire near the Cresta Dam, but the official cause still remains under investigation by Cal Fire.

On Wednesday, those five counties affected by the Dixie Fire announced they have now filed a joint lawsuit against PG&E.

"Unfortunately as local elected officials we have to again bring PG&E to task over a preventable fire," said Butte County's Board of Supervisors Chair Bill Connelly in a statement about the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges PG&E's equipment started the Dixie Fire and demands legal damages for the slew of negative impacts from the wildfire.

As of Wednesday, the Cal Fire incident page shows that the Dixie Fire remains 94 percent contained.