Oregon Landowner Suit Seeks $103M from Public Utilities for Wildfire
May 17, 2021
A lawsuit filed on behalf of 70 landowners in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley seeks $103 million from Lane Electric Cooperative and Eugene Water and Electric Board for damages linked to one of the Labor Day fires that ravaged communities around the state.
The Holiday Farm fire killed one person and destroyed 430 homes, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The plaintiffs contend that the two utilities failed to de-energize their power lines despite widespread forecasts for extreme fire weather.
An official cause of the fire hasn’t been released, but the lawsuit says fires started when tree branches contacted power lines east of Eugene.