PacifiCorp will pay $178M to Oregon wildfire victims in latest settlement over deadly 2020 blazes

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Pacific Power, part of PacifiCorp, said Monday it has agreed to a $178 settlement with over 400 Oregon plaintiffs in the latest multimillion-dollar payout related to the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state.

The majority of the 403 plaintiffs in the settlement were affected by the Echo Mountain Complex Fire that devastated Oregon’s central coast, said George McCoy, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, while others were impacted by the Santiam Fire that raged east of the state capital Salem in northwestern Oregon.

In a statement, the utility said it has settled nearly 1,500 claims stemming from the Labor Day 2020 wildfires. The blazes were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, killing nine people, burning more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) and destroying thousands of homes and other structures.

FILE - Chairs stand at the Gates Post office in the aftermath of a fire in Gates, Ore., Sept 9, 2020. The post office was destroyed along with several other buildings in the Santiam Canyon community as a result of the Santiam Fire. Pacific Power, owned by PacifiCorp, said Monday, June 3, 2024, that it has agreed to a nearly $180 million settlement with over 400 Oregon plaintiffs who sued the utility after the deadly 2020 wildfires. (Mark Ylen/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP, File)

FILE – Chairs stand at the Gates Post office in the aftermath of a fire in Gates, Ore., Sept 9, 2020. The post office was destroyed along with several other buildings in the Santiam Canyon community as a result of the Santiam Fire. Pacific Power, owned by PacifiCorp, said Monday, June 3, 2024, that it has agreed to a nearly $180 million settlement with over 400 Oregon plaintiffs who sued the utility after the deadly 2020 wildfires. (Mark Ylen/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP, File)