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Butte County Sues PG&E Over Camp Fire

BUTTE COUNTY (AP) -- Butte County where the deadly Camp Fire killed 86 people and destroyed the town of Paradise last year has sued Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday comes a day after the utility said it is filing for bankruptcy. That means the country's lawsuit will be consolidated with fire-related suits.

A wildfire that became the state's deadliest and most destructive in history sparked near Paradise, California, in Butte County and leveled the city of 27,000 people. It destroyed nearly 15,000 homes.

The lawsuit alleges a spark from PG&E equipment ignited the blaze. State officials are still investigating what started the fire, but the utility has said it had a problem with one of its transmission lines near where the fire began.

The utility did not immediately comment.

© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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