Builders to Pay $36 Million for Calif. Wildfire Damages to 18,000 Acres

In an unprecedented environmental verdict, a Los Angeles federal jury ruled that two construction companies must pay more than $36.4 million for damages from a 2002 wildfire that burned over 18,000 acres of Angeles National Forest, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. The verdict marks the first time a jury has decided to award damages based on a wildfire's environmental impact. The jury ruled that Texas company CB&I Constructors and the defunct Merco Construction Engineers must pay more than $36.4 million for costs related to a June 2002 wildfire in San Francisquito Canyon that government officials say was caused by hot metal sparks from electric grinders. The companies were building steel reservoirs for a planned community in Santa Clarita. A CB&I employee negligently directed the hot sparks toward a hillside covered in dry brush, while a Merco employee failed to water down the construction site to prevent the fire, the government argued at trial. The verdict, decided in a one-day deliberation, is the largest ever awarded in a federal cost-recovery case relating to firefighting. The jury unanimously determined that CB&I was 65 percent liable and Merco was 35 percent liable...read more