NORTH COAST, Calif. – Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch, along with Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones and the district attorneys for Humboldt and Napa counties, announced Tuesday that no criminal charges would be filed against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. related to the October 2017 Northern California wildfires.

After an extensive review, each district attorney’s office determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that PG&E acted with a reckless disregard for human life in causing the fires, the standard necessary to sustain criminal charges.

The district attorneys consulted with the California Attorney General’s Office during the review of the cases and prior to the decision not to file charges.

After thorough investigations, Cal Fire determined that PG&E’s equipment caused numerous wildfires in the four counties, and referred their reports to the district attorneys to review for possible filing of criminal charges.

In June, Cal Fire released findings that the Sulphur fire in Lake County was caused by PG&E equipment, as Lake County News has reported.

Of the fires that originated in Sonoma County, Cal Fire determined that PG&E’s equipment caused the Adobe, Norrbom, Pocket, and Pythian/Oakmont Fires, but did not cause the Nuns Fire and the Thirty Seven Fire (along with the Tubbs Fire which originated in Napa County).

The cases that were referred for prosecution all required proof that PG&E acted with criminal negligence in failing to remove dead and dying trees.

Under California law, criminal negligence requires proof of actions that are reckless and incompatible with a proper regard for human life, and any charges must be proven unanimously to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

The district attorneys said proving PG&E failed in their duty to remove trees was made particularly difficult in this context as the locations where the fires occurred, and where physical evidence could have been located, were decimated by the fires.

In response to the announcement, PG&E released a statement Tuesday in which it said, “The safety of our customers, employees, contractors and the communities we serve remains our highest priority. We continue to focus on helping our customers and communities in these counties continue to recover and rebuild.”

PG&E remains on federal criminal probation and is a defendant in many private civil cases arising out of the wildfires seeking, among other remedies, financial compensation. Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties are among the counties suing PG&E over the October 2017, with the city of Clearlake also having filed suit against the company.

The district attorney’s offices would thanked Cal Fire for its outstanding work in battling these fires and investigating their causes.