Several Newberg-area wineries are joining an attempt to hold PacifiCorp responsible for its part in the Labor Day 2020 wildfires and the damage that struck the wine industry as a result.
In a lawsuit filed in late October in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Newberg wineries Flanerie Vineyard and Kings Grade Vineyards, as well as Carlton winery Flaneur Wines, joined two wineries in Salem and one in Philomath in taking PacifiCorp to task for its actions in 2020.
The lawsuit is one of many directed at PacifiCorp since a collection of fires struck the region, destroying thousands of acres of timberland, some towns and taking the lives of several individuals.
In general, the lawsuits allege that the Portland-based company, despite advance knowledge of weather patterns and high winds creating a perfect scenario for ignition, refused to cut power to transmission lines that then ignited fires in forests and among structures over thousands of acres in the state.
The fires took flame along the flanks of the Cascade Mountains from Mill City in the north to Eagle Point in the south, as well as near the towns of Lincoln City and Otis on the west.