{"id":902285,"date":"2024-02-15T12:20:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T19:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=902285"},"modified":"2024-02-15T12:20:34","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T19:20:34","slug":"wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/","title":{"rendered":"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ryan Haas | OPB<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the second time this month, the utility provider PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, PacifiCorp announced it has reached a $250 million settlement with 10 timber companies to resolve a lawsuit they brought against the utility related to the Archie Creek Complex Fire in Southern Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 5, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned company\u00a0dished out $299 million<\/a>\u00a0to settle a lawsuit brought by Southern Oregon residents who lost their homes and property in the same fire, bringing PacifiCorp\u2019s payouts this month to more than half a billion dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timber lawsuit alleged PacifiCorp\u2019s employees, working at the Oregon utility Pacific Power, ignored warnings from the National Weather Service on Labor Day weekend in 2020 and continued to operate its electrical equipment rather than powering down. The suit also claimed the company failed to trim hazard trees and other vegetation that could have sparked power lines during the high winds that weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 2020 wildfires were undeniably tragic, and PacifiCorp is pleased to resolve this matter on behalf of our impacted customers and communities,\u201d the company said in an issued statement, adding that the threat of wildfires is larger than any single industry and there need to be \u201cholistic solutions\u201d to preventing catastrophic fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texas-based law firm Watts Guerra represented the timber companies, as well as the individual property owners who settled with PacifiCorp in early December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am proud to have recovered fair and full damages for Oregon\u2019s timber industry who lost tens of thousands of acres of valuable timberlands in the Labor Day 2020 fires,\u201d attorney Mikal Watts said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with the residential lawsuit settlement, Watts praised the leadership at PacifiCorp and Pacific Power for reaching a deal rather than taking the cases to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watts said he hopes to work with PacifiCorp, Oregon lawmakers and utility regulators to eventually create a statewide risk pool for utilities that would allow victims to receive payouts without having to sue. California\u00a0created a similar fund in 2019<\/a>\u00a0following the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric due to wildfire payouts. The pool would see utility customers and utilities themselves pay in before fires happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a fund would give utilities assurance that wildfires won\u2019t bankrupt them, and allow customers to receive compensation much faster than the years it took to reach Monday\u2019s settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI say, you don\u2019t want to be one of my clients,\u201d Watts told OPB. \u201cIt means something terribly bad happened to you. And hopefully Oregon will not see a day like it did over Labor Day of 2020 because we are going to stop it from happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PacifiCorp\u2019s approach to lawsuits stemming from the Labor Day wildfires has varied, and many legal battles remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the spring, the company spent months trying to convince jurors its equipment was not responsible for devastating wildfires in Western Oregon. The company failed to sway those jurors and\u00a0ended up being billed for about $90 million<\/a>\u00a0in damages to 17 plaintiffs. That trial also left the door open for untold millions more in payouts as related class action cases will proceed next year. PacifiCorp has vowed to appeal the jury\u2019s decision to find them culpable in those fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pacific Power is also not finished with several lawsuits brought by Watts\u2019 firm. Attorneys are seeking damages from PacifiCorp for its potential role in the 2020 Slater Fire along the Oregon border with California. Wine growers in the Willamette Valley have also claimed that Pacific Power should compensate them for smoke damage to their crops in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, Watts Guerra took on a lawsuit against PacifiCorp for its role in the 2022 McKinney Fire, which also burned near the Oregon-California border and\u00a0allegedly started underneath a powerline<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes – please call Advise & Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ryan Haas | OPB For the second time this month, the utility provider PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020. In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, PacifiCorp announced it has reached a… Continue reading PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[9895,920,320,9943],"class_list":["post-902285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expert-witness","tag-advise-consult","tag-expert-witnesses","tag-oregon","tag-wildfires","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nPacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-15T19:20:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-15T19:20:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-15T19:20:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-15T19:20:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\"},\"wordCount\":693,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise & Consult\",\"Expert Witnesses\",\"Oregon\",\"Wildfires\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Expert Witness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\",\"name\":\"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire - Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-15T19:20:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-15T19:20:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire - Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire - Advise & Consult, Inc.","og_description":"PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/","og_site_name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2024-02-15T19:20:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-15T19:20:34+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire","datePublished":"2024-02-15T19:20:32+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-15T19:20:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/"},"wordCount":693,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise & Consult","Expert Witnesses","Oregon","Wildfires"],"articleSection":["Expert Witness"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/","name":"PacifiCorp to Pay $250 Million in Timber Company Settlement for 2020 Wildfire - Advise & Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-02-15T19:20:32+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-15T19:20:34+00:00","description":"PacifiCorp will pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to end a lawsuit over its alleged role in the devastating Oregon wildfires in 2020","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wildfire-lawsuit-timber-companies-oregon\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3MIZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902285"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":902288,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902285\/revisions\/902288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}