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.
1 comment:
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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