LOS ANGELES — Residents in Northern California allege that sparks from PacifiCorp's high-voltage transmission lines and other equipment are what ignited the deadly McKinney fire last month near the California-Oregon border in Siskiyou County, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this week.
The McKinney fire has burned more than 60,000 acres in rural Siskiyou County since it began on July 29. Four people died as the fire swept through the area, and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, according to authorities. The official cause of the fire, which is 95% contained, remains under investigation.
PacifiCorp, which is owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Energy holding company, operates an electrical grid across Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The utility company reported to California regulators that it operates a power line that runs near Highway 96 in Siskiyou County where where the McKinney fire is thought to have started from, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported.
