Camp Fire, Paradise: PG&E Pleaded Guilty 84 Times. Nobody Went to Prison.

On 8 November 2018 a hook installed in 1921 wore through on a PG&E transmission tower above the Feather River Canyon, dropped a live 115,000-volt line onto the steel, and started the deadliest wildfire in California history. Eighty-four people died. In June 2020 the Pacific Gas and Electric Company pleaded guilty to eighty-four counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire. Not one person was charged. The Butte County District Attorney's own 92-page public report explains why — and sets out the maximum fine the law allowed: ten thousand dollars per count. This episode is built from four public documents. Every page is below. DOCUMENTS 1. Butte County District Attorney — The Camp Fire Public Report: A Summary of the Camp Fire Investigation (16 June 2020), 92 pp https://www.buttecounty.net/DocumentC... 2. Grand Jury Indictment, People v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Butte County Superior Court, 2020 CF 01422 https://www.buttecounty.net/DocumentC... 3. California Public Utilities Commission — decision in I.19-06-015, $1.937 billion in penalties (7 May 2020) https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDoc... 4. PG&E Corporation — news release to investors, 28 February 2019 ($10.5 billion charge; "probable that its equipment will be determined to be an ignition point") https://investor.pgecorp.com/news-eve... If you would rather see the document than the take, subscribe. CHAPTERS 0:00 The story you think you know 1:22 What this episode is built from 2:19 6:15 a.m., 8 November 2018 3:54 What caused it: Tower 27/222 5:13 The hook that broke 6:41 Eighty-four people 8:12 The line PG&E bought in 1930 9:30 What an inspection used to mean 11:13 What an inspection became 12:39 The patrol record, 2001-2018 14:49 What the company already knew 16:39 "Run to failure" 18:28 The used car 20:01 Already a felon, already on probation 22:07 The grand jury 23:54 Eighty-five counts, and the plea 25:17 Why no person was charged 27:47 What the law allowed 29:48 The other numbers 31:52 What the documents establish IMAGES All still photography is public domain: USDA Forest Service (Pacific Southwest Region), California National Guard, NASA Earth Observatory / Joshua Stevens, NOAA/NESDIS. Full credits are on screen. More episodes:    • Primary Source — every episode   CHAPTERS 0:00 The story you think you know 1:22 What this episode is built from 2:19 6:15 a.m., 8 November 2018 3:54 What caused it: Tower 27/222 5:13 The hook that broke 6:41 Eighty-four people 8:12 The line PG&E bought in 1930 9:30 What an inspection used to mean 11:13 What an inspection became 12:39 The patrol record, 2001-2018 14:49 What the company already knew 16:39 “Run to failure” 18:28 The used car 20:01 Already a felon, already on probation 22:07 The grand jury 23:54 Eighty-five counts, and the plea 25:17 Why no person was charged 27:47 What the law allowed 29:48 The other numbers 31:52 What the documents establish