Major players in California’s legal community are banding together to help victims of the recent California wildfires that have claimed at least 42 lives and destroyed thousands of residential and commercial properties.
FireLawsuit.com is the joint effort of: Panish Shea & Boyle; Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy; Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora; Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger; and Morgan & Morgan. The site is an online resource for victims for those who may want to pursue legal action against utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). It is believed that PG&E’s downed power lines may have been responsible for some of the fires that have raged through the northern part of the state in October.
The site offers news, FAQs, videos, a checklist for victims impacted by the fires, and free consultations.
“PG&E’s negligence has sparked too many wildfires in California,” said Brian Panish. “This fire has done millions of dollars in damage, costing people their livelihoods and in some cases their lives. We will work to help the victims recover and rebuild.”
California’s Public Utilities Commission is now probing what role, if any, PG&E played in the blaze.
In April, state regulators fined PG&E $8.3 million for a 2015 fire that torched 550 homes and killed two people. And in September 2010, one of PG&E’s natural gas pipelines ruptured, igniting a fireball that destroyed part of San Bruno and killed eight. A federal investigation found that PG&E’s lack of maintenance was primarily to blame. Panish Shea & Boyle LLP represented numerous plaintiffs after that catastrophe as well.
Juries and investigators have also found PG&E responsible for sparking several other wildfires in the state, including a large 1994 fire in the Sierra.