Oregon Fire Compensation Case Review Puts $1.252 Billion Before Supreme Court
Key Facts
The Oregon Supreme Court agreed to review the wildfire case and set oral arguments for November 3, 2026, in a dispute that could bring back into focus net compensation verdicts of $1.252 billion for 201 plaintiffs. Lawyers for the survivors asked the court to review an appeals court decision that vacated the verdicts and sent the case back to the trial court, while PacifiCorp defended the appeals court ruling. The review centers on the collective liability verdict for four fires that broke out in 2020; it does not mean the company’s liability has been finally determined. The appeals court had concluded that jury instructions on applying trial evidence to all class members were legally erroneous and unfair to the company. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on November 3, according to OPB.
The case stems from a liability trial in June 2023, when a jury found PacifiCorp liable to the 17 named plaintiffs and members of the class associated with the Santiam Canyon, Echo Mountain Complex, South Obenchain and Two Four Two fires. On April 8, 2026, the Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision vacating the verdict and remanding the case to the trial court. The court said some evidence, particularly evidence about the cause of the fires, did not necessarily apply to every class member. It found that jury instructions extending the evidence to all members were "legally erroneous" and that this harmed PacifiCorp. The case was remanded to the trial court without resolving all the issues the company raised on appeal, according to the court’s decision.
Verdicts issued through June 30, 2026, reflect net compensation of $1.252 billion for 201 plaintiffs, according to a Berkshire Hathaway filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The total includes $133 million in multiplied economic damages, $910 million in noneconomic damages and $244 million in punitive damages. The amount was partly reduced by estimated insurance recoveries of $35 million. More broadly, PacifiCorp recorded cumulative probable wildfire losses of $2.853 billion through the same date. Reuters estimated that the case could expose the company to potential damages reaching tens of billions of dollars, while the figure in the filing covers the probable losses recorded by the company.
PacifiCorp is defending the appeals court decision before the Supreme Court and said it is confident the ruling will stand, adding: "We remain confident that the Court of Appeals’ decision, based on well-established legal principles, will stand." In its response to the review petition, the company said about 200 trials remained pending and more than 1,000 plaintiffs were waiting on court dockets. It added that resolving the case at the current pace could extend into the 2030s. The plaintiffs’ lawyers asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the appeals court decision to preserve the verdict and the class action mechanism. The review therefore concerns the course of a wide-ranging case, while the parties remain at odds over the validity of the earlier verdict.
Multnomah County Circuit Court kept the remaining compensation trials on hold pending the outcome of the review, but some pretrial work, discovery and mediation resumed on August 10, 2026. A trial involving 21 plaintiffs from one geographic area was scheduled to begin in September 2027, according to the company’s filing. This comes amid thousands of claims that make the review’s outcome directly consequential for the course of subsequent cases, while trials remain halted as the appeal is considered. Outside the class action, PacifiCorp agreed in February 2026 to pay $575 million to settle federal government claims related to six fires in Oregon and California during 2020 and 2022. The Labor Day weekend fires in 2020 killed 11 people and burned more than 1,560 square miles, according to The Associated Press.