In Re Cano Petroleum, Inc.

ON REVIEW BY THE JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

Presiding Judge PEEPLES

delivered the opinion of the MDL Panel.

In March 2006 wildfire swept across 480,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle east of Amarillo, causing the death of several individuals and also destroying ranch land, barns, homes, fences, equipment, and livestock. Eventually ninety-one individuals 1 filed seven lawsuits against four oil and gas operators 2 in four contiguous counties (Roberts, Gray, Hutchinson, and Carson). Plaintiffs allege that the defendants’ electrical lines and equipment caused an initial fire, which…