Firms to pay $9M to settle suit over 2012 California fire

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Officials say a construction company and a logging firm have collectively agreed to pay $9 million for damages resulting from a 2012 wildfire that burned more than 1,600 acres of national forest land in Northern California.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Sacramento says Monday that the agreement settles a lawsuit brought by the federal government against Kernen Construction and Bundy & Sons Logging.

Prosecutors say Bundy logging equipment hauled by Kernen became unsecured and dragged along a highway, causing sparks that ignited dry vegetation.

The resulting blaze charred a swath of brush and timber within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Neither company admits liability for the fire under the settlement.