Utility Hit With Lawsuit Over Utah Wildfire

Nearly 100 property owners are suing Rocky Mountain Power and blaming the utility for one of Utah’s largest wildfires this year.

The Wood Hollow Fire destroyed 52 cabins or houses in central Utah and left one man dead in June.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in 6th District Court says arcing between power transmission lines sparked the 75-square-mile blaze.

Rocky Mountain Power tells The Associated Press that the lawsuit is unnecessary because it’s offering cash settlements. The utility isn’t admitting fault but says it’s pursuing out-of-court settlements with dozens of families.

Rocky Mountain Power initially blamed a thief who stripped protective cooper wire from one of its transmission poles. However, a state fire investigator determined the ground wire wasn’t designed to absorb a powerful arc between separate high-voltage lines.