Holiday Farm Fire survivors, insurers file lawsuit in federal court against BPA, EWEB, LEC
Communities and insurance companies affected by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire have filed two lawsuits for damages nearing $500 million against the Bonneville Power Administration and other power companies, alleging negligence in responding to outages and contributing to the destructive spread of the fire.
A complaint filed on Jan. 16 with Oregon’s U.S. District Court addresses the alleged responsibilities of power suppliers during the Holiday Farm Fire and the ongoing struggles of plaintiffs to recover from the devastation experienced in fire-affected McKenzie River Valley communities.
One lawsuit, Adams et al v. Bonneville Power Administration et al, was originally filed in the Lane County Circuit Court. The initial case represents 238 claimants seeking $243 million in costs for damages. The four firms representing this claim are Brady Mertz PC, Foley, Bezek, Behle & Curtis, LLP, Robertson Associates LLP and Rick Klingbeil.
The three companies — BPA, EWEB and LEC — had an additional lawsuit, 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company et al v. Bonneville Power Administration et al, filed against them by over 50 insurance agencies, also on Jan. 16. The agencies are seeking damages totaling over $248 million in the suit filed on behalf of its insureds. Six firms represent the plaintiffs: Bauman, Loewe, Witt and Maxwell, PLLC, Grotefeld, Hoffmann, Gordon, Ochoa and Evinger, LLP, Berger Kahn, Cozen O'Connor, Law Offices of Shawn E. Caine, A.P.C. and Stutman Law.
The case rose to federal court because of allegations against the federally-operated Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA is accused of not addressing reported outages on high-voltage power lines. Lane Electric (LEC) and Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), the power servicers, are listed as defendants. They are accused of not acting quickly enough to de-energize power lines, which hindered firefighting efforts.
According to the complaint, two different fires, the BPA Fire and the EWEB/LEC Fire, both started on Sept. 7, 2020. The fires had two separate points of origin and eventually merged to form the Holiday Farm Fire, accelerated in part by easterly winds blowing up to 50 mph, with 70 mph gusts. Additional factors intensifying the fire included dry conditions, a high fuel load, rugged, mostly inaccessible terrain and a narrow valley that tunneled the east-west directional winds.
The BPA Fire is noted to have ignited when a Danger Tree, a piece of vegetation within dangerous proximity to an electrical supply, distribution or transmission line, fell into the Cougar-Holden Creek 115kV transmission line operated by BPA.
The complaint said the EWEB/LEC fire ignited when a tree blew into EWEB’s 115 kV transmission line, which caused the line to contact LEC’s 34.5 kV distribution line.
The 2020 Labor Day Fires saw five mega-fires burn nearly 850,000 acres of land and hundreds of homes. The Holiday Farm Fire alone burned over 173,000 acres and decimated 723 structures.
Claims stated in the Adams complaint argue that the three fires resulted from negligent and improper management of electrical systems, alleging that the BPA should have been aware of the fire risks based on weather forecasts but failed to take appropriate precautions. Additionally, it accuses the LEC of unreasonably delaying deenergizing power lines, hindering firefighting efforts and contributing to the rapid spread of the fire.
The allegations suggest that the actions of BPA and LEC showed a "willful, wanton, and reckless disregard of a foreseeable and substantial risk of harm to the property of others."
The companies being sued have until Feb. 6 to respond to the filed complaints.
Is there something under construction that you’d like to learn more about? Contact growth and development reporter Hannarose McGuinness at 541-844-9859 orhmcguinness@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: BPA, EWEB, LEC sued for over $480 million in Holiday Farm Fire damages
