Bithell must be in his 80's and he's still practicing law?

That's WHO!!!!

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"I think he can be ready but right now,
I don't believe he is.
The presidency is not something
that lends itself to on-the-job training."
-Biden regarding Obama

...melted the clamp and started a fire?

The loss is tragic. I feel for them and have donated what I could. But, why must it end in a court battle? Seriously. The wind blew, I am sure the moving poles and lines could have caused the braket to come loose. That stuff happens over time. Even have anything vibrate loose in your car? Movement does that. As home owners, they should have been insured. When we bought our house we insured the beans out of it knowing it was our largest investment. I do not see why blame has to come into the picture. Stuff happens, time to rebuild and move on.

I get so tired of people always trying to blame others for their failures. In the middle of a forest, I would not have shake shingles and neither would I in the middle of weeds. If the assocation required it I wouldn't buy. Think people... The same thing with bilding below water level and expecting it not to flood. Get real.

These folks are obviously sinners and deserved it. No wait Satan did it to test them like Job. No wait Idaho Power did it. Sue did it!

And yes, God did make wind. We have had wind in on earth and the valley from the start of time. True the wind is an act of God, but its something thats not new or unheard of.
The power company blew it, the fire came from them and it happened on a day the wind was blowing hard. Would be like having bald tires, sure they work on dry roads but can't stay put on wet roads. Would be like trying to blame a crash on God for making rain.
Nevertheless, if the power company gets sued the cost should come from the stock holder and not the new rate to pay for the damages. Even a out of court settlement needs to come from the stock holders and not the customers.

I am sure that with miles of power lines, that was not the only clamp used? So, why did that one clamp fail?

I assume all of these homes were insured but, as insurance goes its like getting blood out of a rock. These folks need compensation for the tragedy and personnel losses. The disruption of their lives has a value. If Idaho Powers equipment failure was responsible they will do the right thing.

More like an act of carelessness, for which Idaho Power is famous.

Remember the blackout of the entire western power grid about 12 years ago? It was Idaho Power's inspectors who saw, and ignored, a sapling growing under one of their transmission lines. When the sapling grew a little taller, the electricity arced to the tree and started the whole blackout.

Idaho Power, Carelessness is Job One.

The proximate cause of the fire was the melted clamp- so Idaho Power will probably go after the manufacture of the clamp. To say that they intend to take responsibility is simply a specious statement. This is going to be a nightmare for these poor people.

To say that you can sue Idaho Power after collecting from your insurance carrier is also a misstatement. If you pull out ANY insurance policy, once you collect under a claim, your right of subrogation is surrendered to the insurance company. The statement that if you are unable to collect adequately under your homeowners policy, you can turn around and ALSO collect through a lawsuit is incorrect. Anything you collect will be used to re-pay your insurance company. (Remember the Walmart thing a few months ago?) If there are any leftovers, your attorney takes a third and expenses, and you may end up with your deductible and car fare.

The best thing you can do for yourself is make sure you are insured adequately, both on the house and your personal property. That way you deal with the insurer, and let them fight it out with Idaho Power or other third party.

The attorney’s will make out on this one, but they are going to be doing all the work and have all the headaches.

If the pole, lines and other similar components withstand the high winds during this particular event. A single component that fails while all others survive begs the question of defective part or maintenance but evoking the Act of God escape clause is silly. Once Idaho Power's the wiggle room is narrowed they should minimize their costs and settle. Unless you believe that this wind event did all the loosening and no other factors were involved.

Either Idaho Power or BLM had put plowed and maintained firebreaks paralel to the power lines. This had been discussed 10-15 years ago and never accomplised.

we learn from, and will improve on in time. Sometimes accidents lead us to better ideas and solutions for the future. Just MY take on the deal. We can't undo what has already been done.

BULL Malarkey While I admit it most likely was I.P.'s line that caused it. but a clamp melting from a tree 5 mile away? How many clamps are on that line in that 5 miles? Malarkey.. What makes more sense to me it that the high wind caused some of the wire's to touch and arc (which can happen)which sent sparks to the ground causing the fire and the fire melted the clamp NOW that makes more sense to me anyway.

Either our insurance premiums go up if the insurance companies pay or the electric bill goes up if Idaho Power has to pay. If the government of Idaho helps out, then that comes out of the state funds. Which is taxed base. So, we as a community will all help in the rebuilding of the homes and these lives. I could be wrong, I have no facts to back any of this up.

Anyone remember the windstorm that knocked out power in Washington, Oregon and most of Idaho about 12 years ago on the 4th of July? Anyone remember thinking it was a publicity stunt dreamt up by the producers of "Independence Day" which opened that day?

Wind blows around this part of the world sometimes...fact of life. It's awful that this time it destroyed so many lives in our community. Sometimes bad things happen to good people for no apparent rhyme or reason. Immediate and unsullied reparations need to happen...it's the right thing to do. Take care of those who suffered loss in the fire right now. New homes, cars, clothing...all of it. Sort out who's "liable" later. These victims don't need to be a part of insurance companies reclaiming whatever they have to pay out. The whole process needs to be transparent, not part of some media circus.

I thought it was the responsibility of the electric company to make sure that all trees within the vicinity of electric wires were to be trimmed or removed to prevent incidents such as this. And this being the case, if the electric company is responsible do they have to pay for the deployment of the emergency and fire fighting crews and the costs for each just like anyone else responsible for starting a fire accidental or not?

All these comments pointing fingers. Why do people have to blame someone else? Miles and miles of power lines bring electricity right to your homes. With a flick of a switch you enjoy all the electricity you can afford with usually no thought to where it comes from. Idaho Power sends crews to trim trees all over Idaho, from private property to public lands. Can they possibly get every tree branch that ever may fly off or any tree that might topple? I doubt it would be humanly possible. Idaho Power often plays the hand that Mother Nature deals them. From wind and trees to ice storms and forest fires. Their repair crews are usually called out in the worst weather and often in the middle of the night, so the public is inconvenienced as little as possible.

We live in a remote part of Idaho, and power outages are frequent. We don't blame them when an ice storm drops miles of lines in the high mountains in the dead of winter. We get out the candles and plug in the generator. We are prepared. Twice since I have lived here Idaho Power brought in a large generator to power our entire village while they made extensive repairs. Both times it was due to forest fires. Did Idaho Power blame the fire crews for setting a back fire on a windy day that burned 21 power poles?

Wind blowing loosened a clamp, a tree fell somewhere and added an extra load to a line that stressed that loose clamp and it arced. A brush fire started on a windy day, and homes next to fuels with wooden roofs burned. I am very sorry for the residents and cry for the loss of life of a wonderful women that made a difference in our world. Pointing fingers will not bring her back, nor rebuild lost homes. Talking about this situation makes us all aware that there are things we can do to protect our selves and our possessions.

and as such, it is up to the individual to take care of him/her self. There is nothing the power company could have done to prevent this disaster. While my heart goes out to all the victims, especially the family of the one woman who died, it's time to stop the blame business. It is simply beyond belief that people that live in this area would not have fire insurance. Most of the owners must have had a mortgage on the homes, and if so, the lenders would require fire insurance. All of us should check ours to be sure the policy is up to date, is one lesson to be learned.

litiagte 'em all, let God sort it out.

The local liars, oops, I mean lawyers need to re-fill their coffers!

Although this may have been an 'Act of Mother Nature',
Idaho Power has the same responsibility, as do property
owners, to keep their land cleared of all combustibles.
The fire would not have spread if this had occurred.

If the people who lost their homes think that they are not even remotely responsible for their homes burning to the ground they need a reality check & reflection time.

The fact that Idaho Power was willng to step up and take their share of the responbility for this fire was 'the right thing to do'.

Now it is the home owners turn to step up.
When you live outside the city limits and expect that you will be safe when you choose to live'away from it all' you need to maintain a proactive lifestyle that would include maintaining a 'defensible space' from fire or any other environmental hazard and maintaining the fire-proofing of the shake roof shingles on their homes.

If these homeowners had maintained their homes and these defensible spaces, the fire might have been able to run up the hill but would not have been able to reach the homes. The fire would not have been able to run from shake shingle house to shake shingle house.
The best defense is a good offense.

When you have the most to lose, you have to be proactive to protect it. If you dont whoses responbility is it?

For those who are actually interested in the law and the actual facts, consider this:

1. There were 3 prior fires in that lower field owned by Idaho Power in the last 3 years.

2. Multiple calls were made to Idaho Powere to clear the area around the poles in the event of a transformer failure or stirrup failure which often causes fires around poles.

3. Power Companies in Urban areas are required to take precautions to prevent fires and protect the public from their monopoly profit driven company in exchange for us letting them have a monopoly in an admittedly ultra hazardous business.

4. The power company knew the grass was particularly high and dry this year and had cut a road through the area just a month before the fire for access by firefighters. But they did nothing to clear the area around the dozen or so poles that would need to be cleared in the event of a failure. They had the equipment and the clearing would have taken only minutes for each pole. (only the cost of fuel and a day of salaried employees paid for this very purpose).

5. The Fire traveled at an acre a second. the temperatures reached 3,500 degrees. When it hit the homes many of them reached flash points with in seconds. People were unable to leave their homes fast enough without being burned and in one case killed.

6. Nothing any of the homeowners could have done would have saved their homes. The law does not require you to mitigate your damageas before a fire, only after. Idaho Power would have to prove that the fire would not have burned the homes if the roofs were a different material. They cannot do this. One fire fighter said that even if there were a hundred yards of concrete the fire would have still reached their homes. Owners witnessed the flames reach homes and burn up and over the home on the ridge to the homes on the other side of the street accross from them.

7. Even the best insurance has caps on it and many things that are not covered. Most home losses result in $50,000 to $100,000 in losses that are not covered. Rental for a place to stay until the home rebuilds often runs out before the home is completed. Antiques, lost time, emotional distress for people injured in the fire are not covered, to name just a few.

8. Idaho Power on the other hand is liable for all damages if it is shown that they failed to take reasonable steps to protect these homes that have been there for several years. 50 mile an hour winds are expected, grass growing in a wet year is to be expected. As was mentioned, you cannot call weather driven accidents an act of God. Can you imagine losing your wife and mother when a driver slides into you in a snowstorm with bald tires and have everyone say "Too bad, but the snow is an act of God."?

9. Insurance companies can subrogate after they have paid a claim, but not until their insured has been paid by the liable party first and been made whole.

10. The law which we all subscribe to distributes risk according to fault. No one should make a person feel dirty or guilty about seeking redress for these serious damages. If there is no fault on Idaho Power, you can rest assured our system of fault will work and tell the homeowners and insurers that there is no fault. If there is fault, I am hard pressed to understand why many think that we should just let it go and force these few people to suffer in silence. It is easy to be so bold until it happens to you. Especially if it is shown that it could have been easily avoided. I have noticed that to this day Idaho Power has done nothing to clear the grass around the remaining poles.