Butte Fire, 2015
The Butte Fire started east of Jackson on September 9, 2015, when a gray pine touched a PG&E power line. It burned 70,868 acres in Amador and Calaveras counties, destroyed 965 structures and killed two people.
- Where
- Amador and Calaveras counties, starting east of Jackson
- Utility
- PG&E
- Record
- Found by investigators
- Started on
- Line not stated
Found by investigators
The agency that investigated the fire found that the utility's equipment started it.
CAL FIRE concluded in April 2016 that the fire was caused when a gray pine contacted a PG&E power line.
Line not stated
The sources we found do not say whether it was a transmission or a distribution line.
A PG&E power line, touched by a gray pine. The sources we found do not give the voltage.
What happened
The cause
- What failed
CAL FIRE found that PG&E or its vegetation management contractors, ACRT Inc. and Trees, Inc., failed to identify hazards that ultimately led to the tree's failure.
What it cost
- Firefighting
CAL FIRE said in 2016 it would seek more than $90 million in firefighting costs from PG&E.
- PG&E's own estimate
In 2016 PG&E estimated a probable loss of $350 million for property damage, the low end of its range. That is PG&E's accounting estimate, not a finding.
- Claims
The remaining Butte Fire claims were satisfied and discharged under PG&E's bankruptcy plan.
- Fire Victim Trust
PG&E's bankruptcy plan settled fire victims' claims for the 2015 Butte, 2017 North Bay and 2018 Camp fires together, with an aggregate $13.5 billion in value. It is not broken out by fire.
Sources: PG&E Corporation, filed with the SEC; Fire Victim Trust
- Paid by the Trust
$13.95 billion paid to claimants and $19.57 billion awarded, for the three fires together, as the Trust reported in October 2026.
Source: Fire Victim Trust
Not published
We looked for these and found no source that publishes them:
- How many people were evacuated, or for how long
- How many households never returned
- Insured losses for this fire
- Any criminal charge (we found none)