California: Pacific Gas and Electric may face criminal charges if its operations or equipment are found to have sparked fatal wildfires. The recent ‘Camp Fire’ killed 86 people and torched 150,000 acres north of Sacramento in November. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but early reports suggest it began with a broken PG&E transmission line. Investigators found that PG&E equipment caused 12 of 15 major wildfires that hit the state in 2017 and left 44 people dead. In 2016, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have buried transmission lines underground and given local governments more input in constructing fire maps. -GEG
California’s largest utility could face murder charges or manslaughter charges if found responsible for sparking recent, deadly wildfires around the state, according to the state attorney general.
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