Butte County has sued Pacific Gas & Electric Co for the deadly wildfire that killed 86 people last year.
The county’s lawsuit filed Tuesday comes a day after the utility said it is filing for bankruptcy. That means the 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.