In-N-Out, Cal Fire settle $1.2 million lawsuit over SLO County fire
Cal Fire and fast food chain In-N-Out have settled a lawsuit alleging the burger company was responsible for a San Luis Obispo County fire in 2017.
“In-N-Out Burger and Cal Fire have amicably agreed to settle a lawsuit involving a fire that occurred over two years ago in September 2017,” In-N-Out general counsel Arnie Wensinger wrote in an emailed statement to The Tribune on Monday.
Wensinger said the terms of the settlement will not be made public, and “due to litigation the parties do not expect to have any further comment.”
“We are actually uncertain why we have received media attention over an old lawsuit involving a fire that occurred in 2017,” Wensinger added.
Cal Fire filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court in September alleging that the company was responsible for the 245-acre Huasna Fire in September 2017.
The lawsuit alleged that an improperly maintained tractor sparked a fire at a property owned by In-N-Out in rural Arroyo Grande.
Cal Fire noted that the property was covered in “dry annual grasses and scattered brush, which created a receptive bed of flammable vegetation.”
“Wildland fires such as the Huasna Fire ordinarily do not happen unless someone was negligent,” read the lawsuit.
In the suit, Cal Fire asked for approximately $1.2 million to recover costs associated with fire suppression, investigation, report-making, accounting and collection.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 1:47 PM.
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