California-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has agreed to pay more than $55 million in damages with several counties in the north of the state following wildfires caused by aging or defective power lines.
As it became known on Monday, the public prosecutor's office waived charges against the company in return.
The payment will help hundreds of homeowners whose homes were destroyed by the 2021 Dixie Fire and 2019 Kincade Fire.
The California Forest and Fire Protection Agency (Cal Fire) released an investigation report in early January that said the Dixie Fire, which burned down about 1,300 buildings last summer, was caused by a tree near a power line.
The Kincade fire northeast of Geyserville in Sonoma County, which affected more than 31,000 acres and nearly 400 homes in the fall of 2019, was attributed to PG&E's belated shutdown of power following wind warnings.
The company has now committed to laying power lines in the ground in regions that are particularly at risk.