Maison Law represents agricultural business owners who have suffered the loss of property and income due to wildfires caused by negligent California utility companies like PG&E. Victims may include owners who run farms, ranches, and wineries. Our personal injury lawyers go to work immediately to hold power companies responsible for all damages that result from their carelessness. Please contact us to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a real California lawyer and find out how to hold PG&E fully accountable for your hardships.
Wildfire Damage and Threat Caused by PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has been blamed for sparking over 30 wildfires since 2017. Over 100 people have tragically lost their lives in those fires and thousands suffered injuries. These wildfires caused billions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses. In agricultural regions, farms, ranches, and wineries have been lost.
The 2017 Wine Country Fires were also known as the North Bay Fires or Northern California Fire Storm. They ravaged parts of Napa, Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte, and Solano Counties. The series of blazes included around 250 different wildfires, including the Atlas Fire. Dozens of wineries in the region were damaged or destroyed in these fires and in fires in the following years.
PG&E was hit with criminal and civil penalties for their carelessness and was blamed for almost every fire associated with the North Bay Fires.
Investigators with CALFIRE say the utility company has created an increased risk of fires by failing to safely maintain and upgrade its power grid. In many instances, investigators pointed to PG&E’s negligence in replacing old equipment, preparing power lines for storms and high winds, and removing dangerous trees before they could fall on power lines.
Support for Winery Fire Victims
The Fire Victim Trust was established and was funded by PG&E earnings to help the 2015 Butte Fires, the 2017 North Bay Fires, and the 2018 Camp Fires. Business owners of more recent fires will likely need to file individual lawsuits to earn compensation for their winery property and crops that have been lost.
Victims filing individual lawsuits or filing claims against the trust fund should have a skilled California wildfire attorney watching over their cases. Those victims counting on the trust fund for help should know that not every victim will receive the same amount of support. It’s critical to have a lawyer making sure every loss business owners and their staff have suffered receives attention.
PG&E can afford corporate lawyers to cast doubt on each claim you make. You should have a skilled lawyer protecting your rights and making sure you receive every benefit available.
Filing a Property Damage Claim Against PG&E
Owners in the Winery Industry will first need to file claims with their business property insurance providers. They’ll have to determine what insurance companies will cover before filing a claim against PG&E for any uncovered loss.
Unfortunately, commercial insurance policies don’t always provide enough to completely rebuild homes, agricultural buildings, tasting rooms, and other winery properties. The payout may not even cover the replacement of valuable crops. Winery owners may find that a claims check doesn’t provide nearly enough to fully rebuild the entire operation that makes a winery successful.
It’s this gap in the compensation and the actual cost to rebuild that PG&E should be held completely liable for.
Your California Wildfire & Utilities Claim Lawyer will be collecting a full list of the damages suffered to your winery and business, and to you personally. Your lawyer also keeps track of everything a liability insurance company refuses to help you with.
This list is included with the claim submitted to PG&E’s insurers. These are just a few of the factors that could earn you the money you need to rebuild after a wildfire:
- The cost of replacing or repairing business structures like offices, barns, visitor’s centers, restaurants, and warehouses.
- The cost of replacing farm machinery and equipment used to process grapes and to make and bottle wine.
- The cost of replacing your clients’ investments and orders.
- Repairing smoke and water damage to business equipment and furniture.
- The medical expenses for a visitor, customer, client, or employee hurt during the wildfires.
- The loss of business branding on signs.
- The loss of landscaping, fences, and parking lots.
- The “business interruption” that is caused by a wildfire. The loss of customers and networks keeping your farm from returning to previous profitability.
- The loss of business revenue.
- Support to pay the salaries of your employees while unable to operate the winery and farm.
- Help in keeping up with your business loan payments.
Your lawyer works to maximize the compensation you’d receive. But if PG&E and their corporate lawyers don’t want to provide you with fair support, your lawyer also represents the threat of a lawsuit. Your Maison Law attorney will have evidence in hand and have a strong case prepared in case you must drag PG&E before a judge and jury to seek justice.
Contact a California Wildfires Lawyer
If you lose the property and possessions you’ve worked so hard for in a wildfire, don’t let PG&E off the hook. Speak to a California utility fire lawyer to discover what you should be demanding from insurance providers and how to make sure you have what you need to rebuild your winery operation back to exactly what it was before.
Contact Maison Law for a free consultation no matter where you live in California. Our case reviews are confidential and come with no obligation. If you decide we can help you earn more for your injuries and damages after a wildfire, you won’t need to have any upfront money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money you are awarded.
