SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Pacific Bell Telephone Co. is suing an Oregon-based timber company, claiming negligence by Roseburg Forest Products Co. sparked the 2022 Mill fire in Siskiyou County and cost the AT&T subsidiary more than $1 million in equipment losses as the blaze ripped through the community of Weed.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento, says the deadly fire was caused by Roseburg’s failure “to prudently and safely maintain its facility and operations” at a veneer mill in Weed.

The Sept. 2, 2022, fire raged for 12 days, killed two people, destroyed 118 structures and burned nearly 4,000 acres, the lawsuit says.

“Among the property destroyed in the Mill fire were communications lines, equipment, and infrastructures belonging to plaintiffs,” according to the suit, which claims Roseburg installed an inadequate sprinkler system inside the veneer facility, where fires previously broke out in 2015 and 2017.

A Roseburg spokesman said the lawsuit came without warning or efforts to contact the firm.

“We were surprised by this filing because no one from Pacific Bell reached out to us, as did the dozens of parties and lawyers with whom we’ve worked cooperatively in the Mill fire recovery effort,” Pete Hillan said. “Roseburg has settled 95% to 98% of the property damage claims, all claims of the insurance companies, and the claims of the city of Weed.

“We will address this claim as we have others, guided by what’s best for the recovery of the Weed and Lake Shastina communities.”

The company has been the target of at least four lawsuits stemming from the fire and said last year that it had reached settlement agreements with most of the plaintiffs.

Weed City Manager Todd Rundel announced last June that Roseburg had agreed to pay $7.25 million to help rebuild portions of Weed damaged in the fire.

Roseburg has operated the veneer plant in Weed for 40 years and employs 145 people in Weed.