October 2017 Northern California wildfires

Days prior to the wildfires, the National Weather Service had begun issuing red-flag warnings throughout much of northern California as conditions were expected to become extremely volatile, with winds expected to be gusting between from the north to the south. By the evening of October 8, the Diablo winds were reported gusting up to within the affected areas as over a dozen wildfires began to break out. ==Impact and reaction==

Many of those killed in the fires are believed to have died late on October 8 or early on October 9, 2017, when most of the fires broke out overnight. Most of the victims were elderly, though the ages of the victims ranged from 14 to 100 years old. On October 9, California governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for the counties of Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada, and Orange, and sent a letter to the White House requesting a major disaster declaration. President Donald Trump approved the disaster declaration on October 10. Air pollution By October 12, the air quality in the city of Napa was ranked the poorest in the nation, due to high levels of particulates and ozone. By October 13, air quality in the city reached the "hazardous" level, the most dangerous on the Environmental Protection Agency scale. Visibility issues spurred the Federal Aviation Administration to implement a ground delay program at San Francisco International Airport, and nearly 280 flights were canceled over a three-day period. Over a week after the fires started, flights continued to be canceled and delayed due to poor visibility from the smoke. ==Fires==

Cherokee Fire The Cherokee Fire broke out on the evening of Sunday, October 8, near Oroville in Butte County just after 9 PM PDT. Reportedly igniting near Cherokee Road, the fire quickly expanded from hundreds to thousands of acres within a few hours of burning as it threatened nearby Oroville and surrounding rural neighborhoods. Atlas Fire , nearest to the Atlas fire and looking toward the Nuns fire. Point Reyes is visible in the distance. The Atlas Fire burned Napa County, north of the city of Napa, near Napa Soda Springs. In the Fountain Grove area numerous homes, the Fountaingrove Inn, the historic Round Barn, and a Hilton resort were destroyed. By October 14, the death toll from this fire alone had risen to 20. Nuns Fire The Nuns Fire, centered in the areas to the east and north of the city of Sonoma, merged with the Norrbom fire on October 11. The Adobe fire merged with Nuns/Norrbom on October 12. The Partrick fire joined the four-fire conflagration on October 13. By October 16, the combined fire, which now also included the Pressley fire, covered over . On October 18, the Oakmont Fire merged into the Nuns Fire, and the combined fire grew to over in size. ==Investigation==

Based on the investigation by CalFire, it has been found that Pacific Gas & Electric equipment was the cause of all of the individual fires except for the Tubbs Fire. In January 2019 CalFire determined the Tubbs Fire was caused by incorrectly maintained electrical equipment owned by a private landowner. However, in August 2019 a fast-track jury trial was scheduled to revisit whether or not PG&E was the cause of the Tubbs Fire. News media noted reports of wind-damaged power equipment around the time the fires were starting. A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) spokesperson stated that investigators were considering this among other possible causes. CAL FIRE Director Ken Pimlott discouraged premature speculation of causes, stating that, "The facts will come out when the investigations are done." ==Wildfire victim claims==

On July 1, 2020, the PG&E Fire Victim Trust (FVT) was established as part of the reorganization plan of the 2019 bankruptcy of PG&E to administer the claims of the wildfire victims. Also on July 1, PG&E funded the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) with $5.4 billion in cash and 22.19% of stock in the reorganized PG&E, which covers most of the obligations of its settlement for the wildfire victims. PG&E has two more payments totaling $1.35 billion in cash, scheduled to be paid in January 2021 and January 2022, to complete its obligations to the wildfire victims. Claimants are wildfire victims from the 2017 North Bay Fires, 2015 Butte Fire, and 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California. and by the PG&E bankruptcy reorganization plan, wherein PG&E accepted liability for the Tubbs Fire. ==See also==