By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation,
A trial has begun in Portland in a $1.6 billion class-action lawsuit against PacifiCorp that blames the utility’s downed power lines for igniting several blazes that led to the 2020 Oregon Labor Day wildfires that killed nine people, damaged more than 5,000 buildings, and seared more than 1.2 million acres, according to the Portland Business Journal. Survivors contend the utility failed to adequately maintain its power lines from encroaching vegetation and refused to de-energize the lines during forecasted heavy winds while other Oregon utilities did. But PacifiCorp, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary headquarters in Portland that operates in six states, says it acted reasonably during the windstorm. The trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court may last up to two months.
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