by Bob Walsh
In
a surprisingly almost empty Chico courtroom Bill Johnson, COE of
PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of felony involuntary manslaughter
and one count of unlawfully starting a fire. In actuality 85 people
died in the Camp Fire on November 8 of 2018, but one of them committed
suicide, possibly rather than burn to death, and the DA declines to
prosecute on that particular death.
The
fire was almost certainly started when a defective C-Hook allowed an
energized high voltage line to touch up against a tower, which sparked
the fire.
The
company is expected to be nailed with the maximum possible fine for the
deaths, which is $4 million total. They are also shelling out about
$13.5 billion for uninsured damages caused by that fire and several fire
in Wine Country in 2017.
Interestingly enough the part that failed was 99 years old and cost 22 cents at the time. I am sure the replacement cost would be much higher now, with the labor much more than the part, kind of like a water pump on a modern sideways mount auto engine. But still less than $13.5 billion.
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