North Bay fire survivors criticize trust devoted to PG&E payouts amid revelations over 2020 spending pressdemocrat.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressdemocrat.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
California Fire Victims See Little Payout From Settlement May 10, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported.
The Fire Victim Trust was set up to compensate 67,000 victims as part of a bankruptcy settlement. Attorneys for the fire victims negotiated the deal on behalf of survivors, and it was funded half with cash and half with foundering PG&E stock.
PG&E was forced into bankruptcy after its equipment sparked the Camp Fire that killed at least 85 people and nearly wiped out the Northern California town of Paradise.
Wildfire victims see little to no compensation from PG&E settlement trust
Published article
PARADISE, CA - NOVEMBER 15: An aerial view of a neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire on November 15, 2018 in Paradise, California. Fueled by high winds and low humidity the Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise charring over 140,000 acres,
Expand
SAN FRANCISCO - A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported.
The Fire Victim Trust was set up to compensate 67,000 victims as part of a bankruptcy settlement. Attorneys for the fire victims negotiated the deal on behalf of survivors, and it was funded half with cash and half with foundering PG&E stock.
California fire victims see little payout from settlement
May 6, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail 3
1of3FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, charred footprints of homes leveled by the Camp Fire line the streets at the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise, Calif. A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported.Noah Berger/APShow MoreShow Less
2of3FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2018 file photo, a home burns as a wildfire called the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, Calif. A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported.Noah Berger/APShow Mor
Copy Link
Bill Cook s family home in Paradise was destroyed by the Camp Fire, sparked by PG&E equipment in 2018. Like the vast majority of the 67,000 victims of multiple PG&E-related fires included in a December 2019 settlement with the company, Cook s family has yet to see a dime.
(Courtesy Bill Cook)
Retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer Bill Cook lost his home in Paradise during the Camp Fire, the 2018 blaze sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. equipment that ranks as the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history.
More than two years later, Cook, 70, and his family are barely scraping by. Like Cook, the vast majority of the 67,000 PG&E fire victims included in a December 2019 settlement with the company have yet to see a dime. That s as lawyers and administrators have been paid millions, with the money coming directly from funds set aside to help survivors like Cook.