The U.S. Department of Justice is going after a small Northern California publicly-owned electric utility for a fire from 6 years ago. The Hobo Fire started on August 31st of 2020 near Hobo Gulch in Trinity County on Shasta-Trinity National Forest land. It happened in the midst of a Summer of tremendous fires, including the largest in California history, the August Lightning Complex, which burned more than a Million acres. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California alleges that the Hobo Fire started when equipment owned by the Trinity Public Utilities District came into contact with vegetation and ignited the surrounding area. It burned around 450 acres of federal forest land and resulted in suppression costs of more than $2.3 Million, according to prosecutors, who say the fire could have been prevented if the utility had adequately inspected it’s power lines and removed or trimmed hazardous trees. The lawsuit was announced Wednesday in Sacramento.
-Steve Gibson