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Butte Camp Fire Lawsuit Complaint (Download)

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Butte Camp Fire Lawsuit Complaint (Download) www.norcalfirelawyers.com ) 1 PG&E CORPORATION, a California ) ) 2 Corporation, PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY, a California Corporation and ) ) 3 DOES 1-50, inclusive, ) ) 4 Defendant(s). ) )_ 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 COMPLAINT www.norcalfirelawyers.com 1 CONTENTS 2 I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 3 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE ............................................................................................ 2 4 III. THE PARTIES....................................................................................................................... 3 5 A. Plaintiffs ..................................................................................................................... 3 6 B. Defendants ................................................................................................................. 4 7 IV. THE FACTS .......................................................................................................................... 7 8 A. PG&E IS REQUIRED TO SAFELY DESIGN, OPERATE, AND MAINTAIN 9 ITS ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS ................................................................................. 7 10 B. PG&E’S INEXCUSABLE HISTORY OF SAFETY FAILURES ............................ 8 11 C. PG&E’S INEXCUSABLE BEHAVIOR CONTRIBUTED TO THE CAUSE OF 12 THE CAMP FIRE .................................................................................................... 12 13 1. The 2013 Liberty Report Found that PG&E’s Distribution System 14 Presented “Significant Safety Issues” .......................................................... 12 15 2. PG&E’s Failure to Treat the Conditions of Its Aging Electrical Assets 16 as an Enterprise-Level Risk ......................................................................... 13 17 3. PG&E’s Failure to Inspect, Maintain, Repair, or Replace Its Equipment ... 13 18 4. PG&E’s “Run to Failure” Approach to Maintenance .................................. 15 19 5. PG&E’s Purchase of Insurance Coverage for Punitive Damages ............... 16 20 D. PG&E’S CORPORATE CULTURE IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CAMP 21 FIRE ......................................................................................................................... 1 6 22 E. THE CAMP FIRE .................................................................................................... 19 23 V. CAUSES OF ACTION ........................................................................................................ 21 24 A. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION FOR INVERSE CONDEMNATION AGAINST 25 PG&E ....................................................................................................................... 21 26 B. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION FOR NEGLIGENCE AGAINST ALL 27 DEFENDANTS ....................................................................................................... 22 28 -i- COMPLAINT www.norcalfirelawyers.com 1 C. THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION FOR AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS FOR 2 DAMAGES PURSUANT TO PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE § 2106 ...................... 24 3 D. FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR PREMISES LIABILITY AGAINST ALL 4 DEFENDANTS ....................................................................................................... 26 5 E. FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR TRESPASS AGAINST ALL 6 DEFENDANTS ....................................................................................................... 27 7 F. SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR PUBLIC NUISANCE AGAINST ALL 8 DEFENDANTS ....................................................................................................... 28 9 G. SEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR PRIVATE NUISANCE AGAINST 10 ALL DEFENDANTS............................................................................................... 31 11 H. EIGHTH CAUSE OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF HEALTH & SAFETY 12 CODE § 13007 AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS .................................................. 32 13 VI. PLAINTIFFS DEMAND A JURY TRIAL ......................................................................... 32 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -ii- COMPLAINT www.norcalfirelawyers.com 1 I. INTRODUCTION 2 1. Plaintiffs bring this action for damages against Defendants PG&E CORPORATION, a 3 California Corporation, PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY, a California Corporation 4 (collectively, “PG&E” or the “PG&E Defendants”) and DOES 1-50, inclusive, for damages they 5 suffered arising out of a fire ignited on the early morning of November 8, 2018, at Camp Creek Road 6 in the town of Paradise, Butte County. This fire has since been named the “Camp Fire.” 7 2. The Camp Fire torched the towns of Paradise, Magalia, Pulga, Mineral Slide, Irish 8 Town, Centerville, Parkhill, and Concow, and terrorized several neighboring towns including 9 Oroville, Gridley and Chico. To date, it has killed 42 people, making it the deadliest fire in California 10 history. The Camp Fire tore through and burned 117,000 acres, threatened 15,500 structures and 11 destroyed 7,102 structures. Over 150,000 residents have been displaced from their homes as a result 12 of the Camp Fire; over 200 people are unaccounted for. Particularly hard hit was the town of Paradise 13 where 80 to 90 percent of the homes were destroyed. 14 3. The map below shows the current fire perimeter of the Camp Fire: 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 4. The photo below provides a glimpse of the devastation awaiting the residents of 28 Paradise. This photo depicts an aerial view of the intersection of Skyway and Pearson Road, Paradise: -1- COMPLAINT www.norcalfirelawyers.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 5. The Camp Fire started when a high voltage transmission line failed igniting a 16 vegetation fire. 17 6. Plaintiffs are among those damaged by the Camp Fire. Each Plaintiff individually 18 seeks just compensation and damages as more particularly described below. 19 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 20 7. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §§ 21 395(a) and 410.10 because both PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric Company were 22 incorporated in California, have their headquarters in San Francisco, California, engage in the bulk of 23 their corporate activities in California, and maintain the bulk of their corporate assets in California. 24 8. Venue is proper in San Francisco County pursuant to California Code of Civil 25 Procedure § 395.5 because both PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric Company perform 26 business in San Francisco County, have a principal place of business in San Francisco County, and a 27 substantial part of the events, acts, omissions, and transactions complained occurred in San Francisco 28 County. -2- COMPLAINT www.norcalfirelawyers.com 1 9. The amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional minimum of this Court. 2 III. THE PARTIES 3 A. PLAINTIFFS 4 10. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiff SHERRI QUAMMEN was an owner and/or 5 occupant of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 6 11. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiff LAURA SMITH was an owner and/or occupant 7 of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 8 12. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiff RITA BELL was an owner and/or occupant of 9 real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 10 13. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs BRIAN BELL and LESLIE BELL were owners 11 and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 12 14. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs EDITH PARKERSON, RANDALL 13 PARKERSON, and CYNTHIA SPENCE were owners and/or occupants of real property and owners 14 of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 15 15. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs STEVE CHERMS and CHARLES F. 16 BALDWIN, TRUSTEE OF THE FTF TRUST, were owners and/or occupants of real property and 17 owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 18 16. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs TANYA JENKINS and JOHN JENKINS were 19 owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 20 17. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs BRIAN HILL and RACHEL BRANCH were 21 owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. 22 Their children, PABLO SANCHEZ and K’LANIE HILL, are minors for whom guardians ad litem 23 will be appointed and the names of those guardians will be added to a complaint at the first opportunity. 24 18. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs ADAM HARGRAVE and STEPHANIE 25 HARGRAVE were owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property 26 damaged by the Camp Fire. 27 19. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs BRIAN HILL and RACHEL BRANCH were 28 owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp Fire. -3- COMPLAINT www.norcalfirelawyers.com 1 20. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs TERESE BELLAMY and KERRY BELLAMY 2 were owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp 3 Fire. 4 21. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs PAUL KEMBLOWSKI and SANDRA HOFF 5 were owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property damaged by the Camp 6 Fire. 7 22. At all relevant times herein, Plaintiffs ROBERTO SANCHEZ QUINTERO and 8 MAYRA ACOSTA were owners and/or occupants of real property and owners of personal property
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