DAs Will Not File Criminal Charges Against PG&E For Oct. 2017 NorCal Wildfires
SANTA ROSA (CBS13) — The District Attorneys for Sonoma, Napa, Humboldt, and Lake Counties announced that no criminal charges will be filed against PG&E for the October 2017 Northern California wildfires.
After reviewing the fires, each office said they determined insufficient evidence exists to prove PG&E "acted with a reckless disregard for human life in causing the fires," which is the standard necessary to sustain criminal charges.
Cal Fire investigations determined that the utility's equipment caused numerous fires in four counties, but it did not cause the Nuns Fire, Thirty Seven Fire, or the Tubbs Fire.
PG&E remains on federal criminal probation and is a defendant in many private civil cases arising out of the wildfires seeking, among other remedies, financial compensation. Sonoma County is a party to one of the civil lawsuits.
The utility recently filed for bankruptcy and is said their equipment may have ignited the Camp Fire in Butte County.