Union Pacific To Pay $102 Million Settlement For California Wildfire

July 22, 2008 8:10 p.m. EST

Sacramento, CA (AHN) - Union Pacific Railroad Co. is paying $102 million to settle a federal lawsuit over a California wildfire in 2000 that was started by railroad employees.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Darnell Jr. ruled that the federal government could seek additional damages of more than $13 million for loss of wildlife habitat and $33 million for the cost of planting new trees.

The current settlement is just for the cost of fighting the fire and the value of burned trees.

The fire, started on Aug. 17, 2000, came from sparks while welders were repairing railroad tracks in Plumas County, roughly 100 miles northeast of Sacramento. The fire lasted three weeks and burned more than 52,000 acres.

"We feel our employees handled the situation as best they could. It was a rare and unfortunate set of circumstances that this fire became bigger than it should have," said Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond, according to the Associated Press. "We are very fortunate that we didn't have any injuries or any major damage (to homes). It could have been a lot worse."

The settlement is the largest for a forest fire in U.S. Forest Service history.

Shares of Union Pacific rose 2.2 percent to $74.15 on Tuesday.