Ventura County ranchers and growers recover more than $50 million from Edison after the Thomas Fire

The Thomas Fire ignited on December 4, 2017, when Southern California Edison power lines slapped together in high winds above Ventura County. Over the following weeks it burned more than 280,000 acres across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, destroyed or damaged over 1,300 structures, and forced more than 100,000 residents to evacuate.

Agriculture took some of the heaviest losses. Ventura County put preliminary agricultural damage at more than $170 million, with avocado groves hardest hit. Ranching and farming families watched herds, fencing, rangeland, and orchards burn. Bud and Kim Sloan lost more than 50 cattle and thousands of acres at their Santa Paula ranch. Rich and Bonnie Atmore lost orchards, cattle, and thousands of acres. As Rich Atmore described the land, "It's part of our heart and our soul. It's not just what we do for a living, it's who we are."

Robert Boatman of Gallagher & Kennedy represented ranchers, farmers, and growers, working alongside co-counsel from Panish Shea & Boyle, Walkup Melodia Kelly & Schoenberger, and Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy. The first complaints were filed in Ventura County Superior Court on March 14, 2018. They alleged that Edison put profits before public safety and had known for years about the wildfire risk created by its unsafe equipment, aging infrastructure, and ineffective vegetation management.

On April 16, 2018, Ventura County Judge Vincent J. O'Neill Jr. recommended coordinating the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow cases, citing the complexity of the litigation. Pretrial proceedings moved to Los Angeles County Superior Court, where claims from residents, businesses, and agricultural operators were managed together. Boatman pressed the point that the fire's reach went well past burned homes, hitting growers whose groves and grazing land would take years to recover.

Edison resolved the litigation through settlements rather than a verdict. A separate 2019 agreement saw the utility pay $360 million to 23 public entities, but that deal expressly excluded residents, individuals, and businesses. The private claims Boatman and co-counsel carried for ranching and agricultural clients were resolved later. For its Ventura County ranching and grower clients, the firm recovered more than $50 million, with payments reported across 2021 and 2022.