California wildfire News

PG&E Reaches $1 Billion Wildfire Settlement With Local Agencies

PG&E Corp., the California utility giant that went bankrupt five months ago amid crippling wildfire liabilities, has reached a $1 billion settlement with local government agencies that were harmed by blazes its equipment ignited. The deal between PG&E and 14 …

PG&E Lines Tied to Deadliest California Fire in State Report

California investigators have determined that PG&E Corp.’s power lines ignited the deadliest blaze in state history, opening the door for more liabilities that the company has already warned may exceed $30 billion. A transmission line owned by PG&E sparked the …

California May Go Dark This Summer, and Most Aren’t Ready

A plan by California’s biggest utility to cut power on high-wind days during the onrushing wildfire season could plunge millions of residents into darkness. And most people aren’t ready. The plan by PG&E Corp. comes after the bankrupt utility said …

PG&E Gets Approval to Pay Employees $350 Million to Meet Safety Goals After Wildfires

SAN FRANCISCO — PG&E Corp can pay employees up to $350 million in bonuses this year to spur them to help meet the bankrupt California power provider’s safety goals to prevent wildfires, a judge said on Tuesday. PG&E’s management has …

California Faces to Deter Disaster as Towns Face Fire Risk

SACRAMENTO, California — Impoverished towns in the shadow of Mount Shasta. Rustic Gold Rush cities in the Sierra Nevada foothills. High-dollar resort communities on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Ritzy Los Angeles County suburbs. They all could be the next …

Efforts to Clear Fire-prone California Forests Face Hurdles

About the photo: A firefighter works to battle the Carr Fire at a home in Redding, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. (Daniel Kim/The Sacramento Bee via AP) CHICO, Calif. — With nearly 40 million people living in California and development …

California Lawmakers Eyeing Catastrophic Wildfire Fund

Creation of a catastrophic wildfire risk pool is emerging as the most likely option as California lawmakers seek to protect the solvency of investor-owned utilities from record payouts for fire damages. PG&E filed for a bankruptcy reorganization this year, saying …

Watchdog Says FEMA Wrongly Released Survivors’ Personal Information

WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million survivors of devastating 2017 hurricanes and wildfires, potentially exposing the victims to identity fraud and theft, a government watchdog reported Friday. The …

Prosecutors Decline to File Criminal Charges against PG&E for Wine Country Fires

An investigation into fierce wildfires that swept Northern California’s wine country in 2017, killing 46 people, found no basis to criminally charge PG&E, the utility whose power lines helped spark the conflagration, prosecutors said on Monday. The decision, which leaves …

Wildfire Debris Removal Halted Due to Unstable Rain-Saturated Slopes

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — State officials have halted debris removal on Northern California hills scarred by a deadly wildfire because of rain-saturated, unstable slopes. Work crews and truck drivers removing debris in Paradise have been idled at least until March 19, …