Jury finds PacifiCorp owes more than $73 million for causing 2020 Oregon wildfires

Oregon’s second-largest electrical utility, PacifiCorp, played a significant role in the Labor Day wildfires that ravaged parts of the state in 2020, according to a Multnomah County jury.

Jurors returned a nearly unanimous verdict Monday that found the utility caused a substantial amount of damage related to fires in the Santiam Canyon, as well as the South Obenchain and 242 fires in Southern Oregon and the Echo Mountain Complex Fire on the Oregon Coast.

After less than two days of deliberations, jurors found the company owes more than $73 million in total to the 17 plaintiffs in the case for losses related to the fires and for emotional suffering. That amount could rise after jurors assess punitive damages in the case. The jury also found that a broader class of potentially thousands of people can bring claims against PacifiCorp for the fires in a future court proceeding.

Plaintiff Rachelle McMaster, who lost her home in Otis to the Echo Mountain Complex Fire, cried and hugged family members outside the courtroom after the jury decision was announced.

Fire victims frequently said throughout the proceedings that they wanted an outcome to the trial that helped them move past the trauma of 2020.

“While the Santiam Canyon will never be the same, I hope this verdict will help in the long term healing and recovery of what took many lifetimes to build,” said Sam Drevo, one of the plaintiffs in the case.