Three major companies have paid the United States $22 million to resolve claims linked to the 2016 Rey Fire. The fire burned more than 32,000 acres in northern Santa Barbara County — including 19,000 acres of land in Los Padres National Forest — after igniting on August 18, 2016, near the White Rock picnic area.
According to the Justice Department , the fire started when a tree fell onto power and communication lines owned, respectively, by Southern California Edison (SCE) and Frontier Communications. The multimillion-dollar settlement was announced on Friday.
In 2019, the United States filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Forest Service against SCE and Frontier — as well as tree-trimming company Utility Tree Services (UTS), which was SCE’s vegetation management contractor — to recover costs for the extensive damages that the Rey Fire caused.