A deadline extension and an aggressive effort to track down victims have doubled the number of damage claims against Pacific Gas & Electric over California wildfires started by its equipment, the New York Times reported. A filing yesterday related to the giant utility’s bankruptcy case said that more than 80,000 people were now seeking to tap into a relief fund projected to total $13.5 billion. In his report, a court-appointed accountant charged with identifying and finding additional wildfire victims attributed the increased number of claims to, among other things, “grass-roots campaign efforts of the fire victims themselves.” Less than three weeks before the previous Oct. 31 deadline, the New York Times reported that about 31,500 victims had filed claims but that 70,000 others could lose out on benefits if they did not act quickly. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali, who is presiding over the bankruptcy case, extended the deadline to Dec. 31. And U.S. District Court Judge James Donato, who is responsible for estimating how much PG&E owes wildfire victims, said: “It would be a heartbreaking shame if even 10 percent of the eligible victims don’t file claims for whatever reason. If we’re talking about 50 percent not filing, that’s — that’s intolerable.” Judge Donato suggested that “someone should be going door to door” to get victims to file claims.
