| Butte Fire | |
|---|---|
| Part of the2015 California wildfires | |
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| Date(s) |
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| Location |
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| Coordinates | 38°19′47″N120°42′15″W / 38.32974°N 120.70418°W /38.32974; -120.70418 |
| Statistics[1][2] | |
| Burned area | 70,868 acres (28,679 ha; 111 sq mi; 287 km2) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Structures destroyed |
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| Damage |
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| Map | |
 The footprint of the Butte Fire | |
  Location of fire in California | |
TheButte Fire was a rapidly moving wildfire during the2015 California wildfire season that started on September 9 inAmador County,California.[1] The fire burned 70,868 acres (287 km2).
The fire started at 2:26 P.M. on Wednesday, September 9, just east ofJackson, 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 difficulttopography.[3]
Early on Friday, September 11,Cal Fire issued a mandatory evacuation for all ofSan 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 theAmador 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 astate of emergency inAmador andCalaveras counties.[5]
On September 16, the Calaveras County coroner announced that the bodies of two people had been found in theMokelumne Hill andMountain Ranch areas.[2]
The total cost of fighting the Butte Fire was estimated by theNational Interagency Fire Center at $74.7 million.[6]: 9
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 byPacific Gas and Electric Company," the company is liable for all property damages caused by the fire.[7]
On July 1, 2020, the PG&EFire Victim Trust (FVT) was established as part of the reorganization plan[8] of the2019 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]
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