Butte Fire

The Butte Fire was a rapidly moving wildfire during the 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 9 in Amador County, California.[1] The fire burned 70,868 acres (287 km²).

This article is about the 2015 wildfire. For the 2018 wildfire, see Camp Fire (2018).

Butte Fire
Location	Jackson, Amador County, California
Coordinates	38.32974°N 120.70418°W / 38.32974; -120.70418
Statistics[1][2]
Date(s)	September 9, 2015 (2015-09-09) – October 1, 2015 (2015-10-01)
Burned area	70,868 acres (287 km^2)
Buildings destroyed	475 residences 343 outbuildings 45 structures damaged
Deaths	2
Map
Location of fire in California

The fire started at 2:26 P.M. on Wednesday, September 9, just east of Jackson, when a tree came into contact with a power line, and quickly grew to over 14,500 acres (59 km²) by that evening.[3] By Thursday, the fire had spread into Calaveras County and more than doubled in size over 32,000 acres (129 km²).[4] Officials stated that the fire was expanding in all directions and that efforts were being hampered by difficult topography.[4]

Early on Friday, September 11, Cal Fire issued a mandatory evacuation for all of San Andreas, as the fire exploded again to 64,000 acres (259 km²), but at 4:30 P.M. PDT, that order was lifted.[5] Officials from the Amador County Unified School District chose to close all schools in the district on Friday as well.[5] Later that day, as the fire continued to grow, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Amador and Calaveras counties.[6]

On September 16, the Calaveras County coroner announced that the bodies of two people had been found in the Mokelumne Hill and Mountain Ranch areas.[2]

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 by Pacific Gas and Electric Company," the company is liable for all property damages caused by the fire.[3] On December 7, 2019, PG&E proposed to settle all the claims for a total of $13.5 billion, which would cover liability for its responsibility originating from the Camp Fire, Tubbs Fire, Butte Fire Ghost Ship warehouse fire, and a series of wildfires beginning on October 8, 2017, collectively called the North Bay Wildfires (2017), combined.[7] The offer was tendered as part of PG&E's plan to exit bankruptcy.[7]

References

1. "Butte Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
2. Brouwer, Shawn (September 16, 2015). "Calaveras Coroner: 2 residents killed in Butte Fire". KCRA. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
3. Cowan, Jason (June 28, 2017). "Judge orders PG&E liable for damages in 2015 Butte Fire". Calaveras Enterprise. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
4. Helsel, Phil (September 11, 2015). "California Town of 2,700 Warned Ahead of Explosive Wildfire". NBC News. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
5. Heise, Sarah (September 11, 2015). "San Andreas residents prepare to leave as wildfire surges". KCRA. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
6. Serna, Joseph; Rocha, Veronica (September 11, 2015). "Brown declares state of emergency in 65,000-acre Gold Country fire". LA Times. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
7. PG&E Announces $13.5 Billion Settlement Of Claims Linked To California Wildfires, National Public Radio, Richard Gonzales, December 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.