Fire Damage Compensation & Property Loss Claims

Liability often falls on utility companies (PG&E, SCE, SDG&E) under California's inverse condemnation doctrine when their equipment started the fire. Other defendants include neighboring landowners who failed to clear brush, contractors who used spark-producing equipment in fire-risk areas, and arsonists.

Inverse condemnation under California Constitution Article I section 19 makes utilities strictly liable for fire damage caused by their equipment, regardless of negligence. Plaintiffs do not need to prove the utility was careless. This is the basis for most of the major utility-caused wildfire settlements.

Recovery covers the diminished value of your property, cost of repair or rebuild, lost rental income, evacuation expenses, personal property loss, lost wages, and emotional distress. Major utility-caused wildfires (Camp Fire, Thomas Fire) produced settlements in the high five and six figures per household, with catastrophic losses reaching seven figures.

Your insurer becomes subrogated to your claim, meaning they pursue the utility for what they paid. You can still recover the uncovered amount: deductibles, depreciation, contents undervaluation, additional living expenses, emotional distress, and uninsured losses. These often add significant value.

Generally three years from the date of fire for property damage under Code of Civil Procedure section 338(b). Personal injury from smoke inhalation or burns is two years. Class actions and mass tort proceedings sometimes have shorter notice deadlines, so act promptly.

Yes. Smoke damage, ash, and air quality losses are recoverable. Recovery covers cleaning, replacement of damaged contents, and any health effects. Documentation through environmental testing reports strengthens the claim.

Evacuation costs (hotel, meals, transportation), missed work, and emotional distress from the evacuation are recoverable in some cases, particularly mass-evacuation events tied to utility negligence. Recovery is harder than property-damage cases and depends on the specific fire.

Both. Most major wildfires have multiple class actions and master tort proceedings, but each claimant's damages are individual. Burg & Brock handles wildfire cases as individual claims within or outside the consolidated proceedings.

Photos and video of the damage before cleanup, inventory of every item lost (with receipts where possible), evacuation expense receipts, medical records for smoke inhalation or burns, and any pre-fire property valuation. Save everything.

No. Contingency only. No fee unless we recover. Case costs come out of the settlement. Free consultation.