PG&E to be arraigned on involuntary manslaughter charges over Zogg fire

Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will go to trial on involuntary manslaughter and other charges stemming from the deadly 2020 Zogg wildfire in California, according to the Shasta County District Attorney's Office.

PG&E will be arraigned Feb. 15.

"Following a 7-day preliminary hearing, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) was held to answer today for multiple felony and misdemeanor criminal charges for its role in starting the Zogg fire in 2020," the Shasta County District Attorney's Office said in a statement posted on Facebook. "In the Zogg fire, four people died, over 200 structures burned, and more than 50,000 acres were consumed in Shasta and Tehama Counties. Among the charges PG&E is facing are four counts of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of recklessly starting a fire."

Prosecutors filed 11 felony criminal charges and 20 misdemeanors against PG&E in September of 2021 for the fire that left four people dead and burned some 56,000 acres.

In June 2022, PG&E pleaded not guilty to four involuntary manslaughter charges from the Zogg fire in Shasta County.

Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett told reporters at the time that a PG&E electrical line sparked the fire when a tree fell on it.

In 2020 PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2018 Camp Fire in California. The company admitted then that its neglected equipment sparked that fire.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy in 2019 as they were being investigated for the role PG&E played in wildfires that killed dozens of people.