PG&E could face criminal charges over deadly California fire

Pacific Gas & Electric will face criminal charges because its equipment sparked a wildfire last year that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes, a Northern California prosecutor announced Thursday.

It would be the latest action against the nation’s largest utility, which was forced into bankruptcy over devastating wildfires ignited by its long-neglected electrical grid.

Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett announced on Facebook that her office had determined that PG&E was “criminally liable" for the Zogg Fire.

Prosecutors hadn't yet decided which charges to file, but they plan to do so before the September anniversary of the blaze, Bridgett said.

PG&E said the loss of life and devastation from the fire was “heartbreaking" but said it has resolved civil claims with Shasta County and continues to reach settlements with victims and their families ïn an effort to make it right."

“We do not, however, agree with the district attorney’s conclusion that criminal charges are warranted given the facts of this case," the utility's statement said.

Pushed by strong winds, the fire that began on Sept. 27 raged through the Sierra Nevada mountains and local communities, killing four people, burning about 200 homes and blackening about 87.5 square miles (226.6 square kilometers) of land.

In March, state fire investigators concluded that the fire was sparked by a gray pine tree that fell onto a PG&E transmission line. Two counties, Shasta and Tehama, have sued the utility for negligence, arguing that PG&E had failed to remove the tree even though it had been marked for removal two years earlier.

PG&E, which has an estimated 16 million customers in central and Northern California, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 after its...