California fires: US survivors await payouts

The Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in California history. Photo / AP

Lori Kennedy thought she was going to live a comfortable retirement in a modest home in wooded Magalia, California. But she woke up a year ago to a phone call and hurried evacuation orders, and in a matter of hours nearly every trace of her life was incinerated.

Kennedy is one of thousands of survivors of the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history, which was sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment in November 2018 and killed 85 people and nearly incinerated the town of Paradise.

More than 70,000 people have filed claims against the utility over various wildfires in recent years.

But wildfire victims of previous years must wait for PG&E to exit bankruptcy to get any payout.

And as the 2019 wildfire season takes another toll on Northern California and the utility's equipment is blamed for new fires, the number of homes destroyed ticks up. More victims are filing claims, potentially reducing the payout all victims and creditors could receive.

"The more victims there are, the smaller the slices of the pie. That's just the way it's going to be," said Hugh Ray, a bankruptcy attorney and principal at the law firm McKool Smith.

"It won't be anything like enough to solve all the problems. At this point I don't see the money."

- AP