Federal utility seeks dismissal from lawsuits claiming its actions ignited a 2020 wildfire

Bonneville Power Administration has filed a motion to be dismissed from three federal lawsuits related to 2020′s Holiday Farm Fire, which devastated Blue River and several other communities east of Eugene, Oregon.

The Portland-based federal utility is accused of gross negligence and recklessness in its handling of energy transmissions on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2020. Critics allege BPA didn’t heed red flag warnings and failed to address “hazard trees” surrounding power lines and infrastructure. The fire destroyed more than 173,000 acres and hundreds of buildings.

On Aug. 2, 2024, BPA filed a 17-page motion for the U.S. District Court to dismiss all complaints for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

“Congress declined to waive the federal government’s sovereign immunity from the tort claims asserted here,” the motion’s summary states. “The discretionary-function exception applies to both alleged components of the fire. In the absence of a mandatory public-safety power-shutdown plan, Bonneville officials had discretion to decide whether de-energizing power lines was worth the consequences of cutting off power to communities.

“And no policy mandated how and whether Bonneville officials were to identify and remove hazardous trees, particularly because nothing mandated how officials were to determine whether a tree was 50% or more likely to structurally fail within five years.”

A couple of Blue River residents and plaintiffs in the suits against BPA spoke to KLCC, expressing their disappointment in the utility’s latest legal maneuver.

“I drive this highway every day and I still see overgrown power lines, trees that are hazards to the power lines,” said Donald Dow, who lost his home and motorcycle in the Holiday Farm Fire. “Something needs to be done. They need to be held accountable.”

Related: Blue River locals to celebrate rebuilding of key structures and homes this weekend

Dow says he was lucky to have a modular home bestowed to him by his parents, to replace the one destroyed in the fire. The retiree says he is still shaken by the devastation he sees around the McKenzie River area.

Another resident, Christiana Rainbow Plews, said she and fellow firefighters lost homes and property in September 2020. She and her sons are rebuilding, and taking heart that a new fire station in Blue River will signal the rebirth of their community. But like Dow, she wants BPA to be held accountable.

“They need to start taking responsibility, taking measures to make sure this doesn’t happen again in any community,” she said. “For me, that would be the most desirable outcome.”

Now retired from her role as the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection District chief, Plews said she’s also a deponent in the case, and has provided the legal team extensive eyewitness testimony of the Holiday Farm Fire and its aftermath.

An expected motion

An attorney representing roughly 240 plaintiffs in one of the first lawsuits filed against BPA said he doesn’t think the utility’s motion will succeed.

Alex Robertson predicts the U.S. District Court of Oregon will reject the BPA’s argument that it’s not subject to jurisdiction in the case.

“It really has to focus on whether or not their conduct falls within one of these statutory immunities that the federal government enjoys,” said Robertson. “We do not believe that the conduct by Bonneville Power qualifies for any of those statutory immunities, and that their conduct here was grossly negligent.”

Robertson says it’s not unusual for entities like BPA to file motions to dismiss, so he and other attorneys weren’t surprised when it was filed.

Two other utilities, Eugene Water & Electric Board and Lane Electric, are also defendants in the lawsuits. All have declined comment on pending litigation.