This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project , a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.

PacifiCorp, the Portland utility that faces crushing financial liability for a wave of destructive wildfires that killed five, injured many others, and caused widespread damage, has reached another big settlement—$150 million to 1,434 people in the 2020 Labor Day wildfires.

Major fires fueled by strong east winds broke out all over the state during that holiday weekend. Subsequent lawsuits against PacifiCorp center on blazes in the Santiam River canyon, the hills inland from Lincoln City, in Southern Oregon and Chiloquin.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs have focused on PacifiCorp, rather than other utilities, because the company chose not to deenergize its power lines. As the wind and r

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