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PacifiCorp confirmed yesterday that the utility agreed to pay $575 million to resolve the United States’ claims for damages resulting from six wildfires in Oregon and California in 2020 and 2022.
Tidings Data Snapshot
Federal Wildfire Settlement By The NumbersSource: U.S. Department of Justice settlement announcement dated Feb. 20, 2026 plus Reuters reporting on the federal claim amountDailyTidings.com
PacifiCorp Settles More 2020 Oregon Wildfire Claims
Following the last settlement reached in November last year, when PacifiCorp settled for $150 Million to over 1,400 Oregon wildfire victims, the utility company has now settlement claims from four other fires in Oregon that the United States claimed were negligently started by PacifiCorp’s electrical lines:
- 7, 2020, 242 Fire near Chiloquin that burned 8,916 acres of federal land;
- 7, 2020, Echo Mountain Complex Fire near Otis, Oregon, that burned approximately 2,500 acres, including federal land;
- 8, 2020, Archie Creek Fire near French Creek in the Umpqua National Forest that burned 67,000 acres of federal land;
- 8, 2020, South Obenchain Fire east of Eagle Point that burned 14,780 acres of federal land.
Two California fires also settled in the same claim were the Sept. 8, 2020, Slater Fire on Slater Butte National Forest lands within the Klamath National Forest, burning 157,229 acres of federal land, and the July 29, 2022, McKinney Fire on land next to the Klamath National Forest, burning 39,000 acres of federal land.
| Fire | Start date | State | Federal land acres cited | Federal units named |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 242 Fire | Sept. 7, 2020 | Oregon | 8,916 | Federal land |
| Echo Mountain Complex Fire | Sept. 7, 2020 | Oregon | about 2,500 | Federal land included |
| Archie Creek Fire | Sept. 8, 2020 | Oregon | 67,000 | Umpqua National Forest |
| South Obenchain Fire | Sept. 8, 2020 | Oregon | 14,780 | Federal land |
| Slater Fire | Sept. 8, 2020 | California | 157,229 | Klamath / Six Rivers / Rogue River Siskiyou National Forests |
| McKinney Fire | July 29, 2022 | California | 39,000 | Klamath National Forest area |
Funds from the settlement will help repay the United States for firefighting, and will also be distributed to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to restore some of the 290,000 acres of public land that were burned.
PacifiCorp continues to deny liability for these fires, and the claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only. No liability has been determined.
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