2 Oil Firms to Pay $1.8 Million for Fire
Two oil companies will pay $1.8 million to settle a civil case filed after the 10,000-acre Harris fire. Most of the money goes to the state for the cost of battling the blaze.
The county sued Torch Operating Co. and Nuevo Energy Co., claiming they didn’t properly clear areas below the power poles they owned on land near Vandenberg Village, allowing a spark to start the fire on Sept. 13, 2001.
Fast-moving flames also engulfed a peat bog that sent pungent smoke into the Lompoc area for months. That smoke mixed with fog, creating a phenomenon dubbed “bog fog” and was blamed for a fatal accident and several other traffic collisions.
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