70,000 of 100,000 California wildfire victims may miss out on PG&E payments - SFGate

70,000 of 100,000 California wildfire victims may miss out on PG&E payments - SFGate: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - As many as 100,000 Californians are eligible to receive payments for the damages they suffered from a series of devastating wildfires over the last several years. But tens of thousands of them have not sought compensation.
They face a Monday deadline to file claims against Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility blamed for many of the fires and required to cover a wide range of wildfire-related losses as part of its bankruptcy plan.
Concerned that as many as 70,000 victims may miss out on payments, attorneys filed court papers Friday to alert the bankruptcy judge that wildfire survivors - many still traumatized and struggling to get back on their feet - aren't aware of their rights to file a claim.
"People really are overwhelmed and don't understand what they need to do," said Cecily Dumas, an attorney for the Official Committee of Tort Claimants, a group appointed by the court to represent all wildfire victims in the bankruptcy.
"Renters, lower-income people were simply too exhausted by their day-to-day circumstances to deal with it," she said.
PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in January as it faced billions of dollars of damages from wildfires that