Mill Fire Lawsuit: Roseburg Settlements and $50M Relief Fund

The Mill Fire lawsuits against Roseburg Forest Products ended in a pair of settlements: a December 2022 agreement resolving claims for more than 700 individual plaintiffs, and a separate $7.25 million settlement with the City of Weed announced in June 2023. Roseburg did not admit liability in either resolution. Cal Fire had concluded the September 2, 2022 blaze was caused by operations at the company’s veneer plant in Weed, California.

What the Fire Destroyed

The fire ignited on September 2, 2022, at Roseburg’s veneer manufacturing plant in Weed, a timber town in Siskiyou County near Mount Shasta. Wind and heat pushed it into the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, a historically Black community originally built to house millworkers, and out toward Lake Shastina and Edgewood.¹ Nearly 60 homes in Lincoln Heights alone were destroyed.²

In total, the fire burned 3,935 acres and damaged or destroyed 144 structures over 20 days.³ Two Weed residents were killed, Marilyn Hilliard, 73, and Lorenza Glover, 65.⁴ Three others were injured and more than 7,500 residents were evacuated.⁵

The Cause

Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal concluded the fire was “caused by mill operations at the Roseburg Forest Product property in Weed, California.”⁶ The report went to the Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office, and no criminal charges against Roseburg or any individuals have been publicly reported.⁷

Roseburg pointed early on to a machinery failure. Its cogeneration facility burns wood remnants to make electricity and produces large volumes of hot ash, which was supposed to be cooled by a third-party water-spraying machine before storage. The company said publicly it was investigating whether that machine failed to sufficiently cool the ash, allowing it to ignite.⁸

What Plaintiffs Alleged Roseburg Knew

The complaints focused on Shed 17, a roughly 100-year-old, football-field-sized wooden warehouse where truckloads of hot ash were stored.⁹ Court filings described the building as a “tinderbox” with wooden rafters and walls scarred by earlier fires.¹⁰

Small ash fires in and around the shed were a recurring problem. Weed’s fire chief said his department responded to two ash-related fires in the shed in the five years before the Mill Fire, and a former chief recalled at least one similar incident during his tenure.⁹ Plaintiffs said additional near-miss fires happened frequently and were never reported.¹⁰ Documented prior incidents involving wood products at the facility occurred in 2015 and 2017.

The complaints alleged that a fire suppression system installed in the shed did not function as intended during the fire, and that Roseburg relied on employees to manually put out fires as they broke out rather than investing in a properly designed and maintained system.¹¹ Neither the city nor the county had inspected the warehouse for fire risk or sprinkler function, and Roseburg could not confirm any private inspection. The company had planned to demolish Shed 17 and an attached warehouse in 2022 because they had deteriorated to the point that wind occasionally tore roof strips loose and dropped them on Lincoln Heights homes.⁹

In an April 2024 deposition taken in a separate insurance dispute, Roseburg’s vice president and general counsel acknowledged that the company anticipated losing a negligence case at trial because of the history of fires in Shed 17.¹²

The $50 Million Relief Fund

Less than two weeks after the fire, Roseburg set up a $50 million community relief fund and began distributing money on September 13, 2022, with roughly 80 survivors receiving initial payments that first day.¹³ Independent administrators ran the fund, which covered temporary housing, food, clothing, and medical expenses. Recipients were not required to waive legal claims against the company to receive aid.

Roseburg later said the fund helped roughly 2,500 families.¹² The company said its creation was not an admission of liability.¹⁴ Plaintiffs’ attorneys called the fund a “slap in the face” given the scale of the losses.

The 700-Plaintiff Settlement

On December 13, 2022, Roseburg announced an agreement in principle to resolve most of the claims. It was negotiated with four firms collectively representing more than 700 individuals: Reiner Slaughter Mainzer & Frankel, Parkinson Benson Potter, Singleton Schreiber, and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy.¹⁵ The settlements covered property losses, personal injuries, and wrongful death claims, and were framed as helping homeowners in Lincoln Heights, Lake Shastina, and along Hoy Road rebuild.¹⁶

Dollar amounts were kept confidential, and each plaintiff had to approve their own terms. Roseburg did not admit responsibility for the fire as part of the deal.¹⁷ Frank Pitre of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy called the result “outstanding” and said the goal was to “make sure the victims were promptly compensated and incentivize them to rebuild their community.”¹⁸

The City of Weed’s $7.25 Million Settlement

The City of Weed reached a separate $7.25 million settlement with Roseburg, announced on June 20, 2023. The city was represented by Baron & Budd and Dixon Diab and Chambers.¹⁹ The money covered damage to public infrastructure, emergency response costs, lost revenues, and other municipal losses, and was designated for community rebuilding, including Lincoln Heights.²⁰ The city reached the resolution through direct negotiation, without filing a lawsuit.

Remaining Claims and the Insurance Case

Some claims stayed open after the two major settlements. A Roseburg spokesperson said the outstanding claims involved people who lived outside the direct burn zone but were evacuated and suffered losses.¹²

Roseburg also filed its own suit on April 7, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, against Liberty Insurance over coverage for the fire’s aftermath. Depositions in that case included testimony from Roseburg executives about the company’s internal expectation of losing on liability and its strategy of settling claims quickly rather than going to trial.

What Happened to the Mill

Roseburg resumed full operations at the Weed lumber mill on November 10, 2022, about two months after the fire. The company said it had removed the original ash mixer, installed a replacement designed to cool ash with water, and updated its emergency response protocols and staff training.¹²

Operations in Weed ended on December 3, 2025, when Roseburg abruptly closed the veneer plant as part of a corporate consolidation and shifted production to Oregon facilities. The mill had been a cornerstone employer in the community for nearly 40 years.²¹ Roseburg pledged a $7 million contribution to a community foundation on its way out.²²

1
KCRA. Mill Operations Caused Deadly 2022 Mill Fire in Weed, Cal Fire Says
2
The New York Times. California Lincoln Heights Wildfire
3
San Francisco Chronicle. Mill Fire Caused Northern California Company’s Deadly Blaze
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KCRA. Mill Fire Weed Siskiyou County
5
Singleton Schreiber. Mill Fire Lawsuit
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KRCR. Mill Fire Tragedy in Siskiyou County Linked to Roseburg Operations
7
Redding Record Searchlight. Cal Fire Says Operations at Roseburg Plant Started Deadly Mill Fire
8
Roseburg Forest Products. Roseburg Investigating Possible Failure of Ash Spraying Machinery as Source of Mill Fire
9
Mother Jones. Weed California Timber Mill Fire Black Community
10
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy. Davies v. Roseburg Forest Products Co. Complaint
11
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy. Lawsuit Filed Against Roseburg Forest Products Co. Over the Start of the Mill Fire
12
Sacramento Bee. Roseburg Forest Products Civil Lawsuit Against Liberty Insurance
13
Roseburg Forest Products. 80 Fire Survivors Receive Initial Funds During First Day of Relief Distribution
14
IJPR. Roseburg Forest Products Facing Multiple Lawsuits After Sept. 2 Mill Fire in Weed
15
Roseburg Forest Products. Roseburg Reaches Agreement in Principle to Settle Majority of Mill Fire Claims
16
Bend Bulletin. Oregon Company Settles Lawsuits From Northern California Fire
17
IJPR. Roseburg Forest Products Begins Settlements After Mill Fire
18
San Francisco Chronicle. Settlement Reached to Pay Victims of Deadly Mill Fire
19
Business Wire. Baron Budd Obtains $7.25 Million Settlement on Behalf of City of Weed for Mill Fire
20
PR Newswire. City of Weed, Roseburg Agree to $7.25 Million Mill Fire Settlement
21
KRCR. City of Weed Shaken by Abrupt Closure of Roseburg Veneer Plant
22
Roseburg Forest Products. Roseburg Consolidates Veneer Production to Strengthen Long-Term Competitiveness