March 4 (Reuters) - An Oregon state jury on Tuesday

ordered Berkshire Hathaway's ( BRK/A ) PacifiCorp ( PPWLM ) to pay at least

$29.2 million to nine homeowners and a summer camp whose

properties were damaged by 2020 wildfires they claim were

sparked when the Oregon utility failed to shut off its power

lines during high winds.

The verdict came in a trial that kicked off on Feb. 27 in

Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, where PacifiCorp ( PPWLM ) is

based.

The trial was the second of at least three scheduled this

year to serve as test cases to determine how much PacifiCorp ( PPWLM )

owes Oregon residents and business owners, whose homes and

properties were ravaged by a series of fires that torched parts

of the state over Labor Day weekend in 2020, causing nearly $1.9

billion in property damage and other harms, according to a state

estimate.

The company could face billions of dollars in liability to

compensate homeowners and business owners who claim the fires

damaged approximately 2,400 properties across the state. The

victims claimed in their 2020 class action that PacifiCorp ( PPWLM ) had a

duty to safely operate its electrical equipment, but negligently

failed to shut it off.

The company has said it is appealing previous verdicts

against it. It has also settled separate claims related to the

fires, and has said it will continue to settle other

"reasonable" claims as well.

A separate jury last year already determined PacifiCorp ( PPWLM ) was

liable for the fires, finding the company was grossly negligent

when it failed to shut down power lines that sparked during high

winds and set off fires across the state. That trial involved 17

people whose homes or properties were damaged, but the liability

findings apply to all the plaintiffs in the class action.

The jury also set punitive damages, which are damages

reserved for defendants whose behavior is deemed particularly

egregious, at 25% of compensatory damages. That finding also

applies to all of the plaintiffs, which should boost their

overall recovery.

In January, another jury ordered PacifiCorp ( PPWLM ) to pay at least

$62 million to nine homeowners whose properties were damaged by

the wildfires.

The company has defended its fire-prevention efforts, saying

power shutoffs were not necessary based on what it knew. It has

also said the plaintiffs did not establish that its equipment

was to blame for the wildfires.

Wildfires throughout Oregon in 2020 burned approximately

1,900 square miles (1.22 million acres), destroying an estimated

5,000 or more structures and killing at least nine people.

The U.S. government has also threatened to sue the company

over natural resources damages and fire suppression costs

associated with the 2020 Slater wildfire in southern Oregon and

northern California.