Butte Fire
2015 wildfire in Amador County, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Butte Fire was a rapidly moving wildfire during the 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 9 in Amador County, California.[1] The fire burned 70,868 acres (287 km2).
- September 9, 2015 –
- October 1, 2015
- (22 days)
- Amador County,
- California,
- United States
| Butte Fire | |
|---|---|
| Part of the 2015 California wildfires | |
| |
| Date(s) |
|
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 38.32974°N 120.70418°W |
| Statistics[1][2] | |
| Burned area | 70,868 acres (28,679 ha; 111 sq mi; 287 km2) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Structures destroyed |
|
| Damage |
|
| Map | |
 The footprint of the Butte Fire | |
  Location of fire in California | |
The fire started at 2:26 P.M. on Wednesday, September 9, just east of Jackson, when a tree came into contact with a power line. Over the next hours, it grew to over 14,500 acres (59 km2). The next day, it had reached 32,000 acres (129 km2).[3] Officials stated that the fire was expanding in all directions and that efforts were being hampered by difficult topography.[3]
Early on Friday, September 11, Cal Fire issued a mandatory evacuation for all of San Andreas, as the fire exploded again to 64,000 acres (259 km2), but at 4:30 P.M. PDT, that order was lifted.[4] Officials from the Amador County Unified School District chose to close all schools in the district on Friday as well.[4] Later that day, as the fire continued to grow, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Amador and Calaveras counties.[5]
On September 16, the Calaveras County coroner announced that the bodies of two people had been found in the Mokelumne Hill and Mountain Ranch areas.[2]
The total cost of fighting the Butte Fire was estimated by the National Interagency Fire Center at $74.7 million.[6]: 9
Wildfire victim claims
On June 22, 2017, Sacramento Judge Allen Sumner ruled that because "...the Butte Fire was caused by a public improvement as deliberately designed and constructed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company," the company is liable for all property damages caused by the fire.[7]
On July 1, 2020, the PG&E Fire Victim Trust (FVT) was established as part of the reorganization plan[8] of the 2019 bankruptcy of PG&E to administer the claims of the wildfire victims.[9][10] Also on July 1, PG&E funded the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) with $5.4 billion in cash and 22.19% of stock in the reorganized PG&E, which covers most of the obligations of its settlement for the wildfire victims.[11][12][13] PG&E has two more payments totaling $1.35 billion in cash, scheduled to be paid in January 2021 and January 2022, to complete its obligations to the wildfire victims.[14]