Accountability for Power Utility-Caused Wildfires

H.B. 3666

In Oregon, 11 people killed & 4,000 homes destroyed in 2020 fires. Utility corporations want to limit their liability and exposure when they burn us up.

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the bill

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After receiving hundreds of exhibits and damning testimony from nearly 100 witnesses, a jury determined that PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of the $1 trillion Berkshire Hathaway corporation, started the Santiam Canyon, 242, South Obenchain, Echo Mountain Complex and other fires.

PacifiCorp destroyed physical evidence that it started fires and deleted internal messages about the fires. Pacificorp was sanctioned for violating several court orders, and it was found to be grossly negligent, reckless.

We are in the fifth year since the fires, and PacifiCorp is trying to get out of compensating people for destroying homes and their lives, forcing them to submit to psychological examinations and produce unrelated prior medical records in court.

H.B. 3666 does not ensure accountability for the billionaire owners and utility corporations when they burn up Oregonians’ houses and destroy lives and communities.

STOP ABSOLVING UTILITY CORPORATIONS FOR THEIR GROSS NEGLIGENCE AND FORCING OREGON TAXPAYERS TO PAY THE BILL. WE URGE THE OREGON LEGISLATURE TO VOTE NO ON H.B. 3666!

RECENT POWERLINE-IGNITED FIRES IN OREGON:

McKinney Fire – July 29, 2022:

  • 4 dead, 118 homes (of 185 structures total), most in community of Klamath River, including the community hall and archives of the Karuk Tribe

  • 60,138 acres burned & tens of thousands of fish killed

Holiday Farm Fire – Lane County – September 2020:

  • 1 dead & 173,393 acres burned

  • Destroyed 768 homes, outbuildings and many recreation sites in Blue River, Vida, Nimrod, Finn Rock

Archie Creek Fire – Douglas County – September 2020:

  • 1 dead & 109 homes and dozens of recreation sites destroyed

  • 131,542 acres burned North Umpqua Watershed including U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and private lands

Santiam Canyon Fires – Santiam & Linn Counties – September 2020:

  • 5 dead and over 1,500 homes and buildings destroyed

  • 193,566 acres burned in Detroit, Gates, Idanha, Mill City, and Lyons and numerous popular recreation sites like Fisherman’s Bend

Slater Fire – Josephine County – September 2020:

  • 2 dead, 197 homes and 440 structures lost, 156,773 acres burned

Echo Mountain Complex Fires – Lincoln County – September 2020:

  • 288 homes and 339 structures lost, half of Otis, Oregon burned

South Obenchain Fire – Jackson County – September 2020:

  • 33 homes & 56 other structures, and 33,000 acres burned

Two Four Two Fire – Klamath County – September 2020:

  • 17 homes & 39 structures, 14,473 acres burned in Chiloquin