2 CALIF. WILDFIRES LAST YEAR BLAMED ON ELECTRICAL LINES

One of them posed threat to Reagan library in Simi Valley

Investigations found that damaged electrical equipment ignited two Southern California wildfires last year, including one that threatened the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, a fire agency said Thursday.

The investigative results for two fires that broke out northwest of Los Angeles a year ago were released as power cuts were under way in parts of Northern California to prevent electrical equipment from igniting fires amid gusty, dry weather.

The 1,800-acre Easy fire, which threatened the library and nearby Simi Valley homes, ignited Oct. 30, 2019, when an insulator attached to a Southern California Edison power line swung into a steel power pole during windy, dry conditions, the Ventura County Fire Department said in a statement.

At the time, the utility reported to regulators that its equipment may have been involved in the fire, which damaged two buildings.

The Ventura County department also said the Maria fire near Santa Paula was ignited the next day by failure of a conductor on an electrical distribution line owned by California Resources Corp.

Nearly 15.6 square miles were scorched, and four buildings were damaged.

California Resources Corp., a publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company, claimed in a statement that Southern California Edison was at fault.

The fire started when Southern California Edison “re-energized its power distribution to our field after a power safety shutdown without giving us prior notice and opportunity to inspect our equipment,” it said.

The company said it has filed a lawsuit against the utility in Ventura County Superior Court regarding the fire.

Southern California Edison fully cooperated in the investigation of the Easy fire, but it has not received the Fire Department’s report, company spokesman David Song said.

The company’s internal review indicates that a circuit interrupted shortly before the fire was reported, but the cause cannot be determined until the utility can analyze equipment currently in the department’s possession, he said.

Southern California Edison disputes California Resource Corp.’s allegation regarding the Maria fire but it cannot comment because of the pending litigation, Song said.

In Northern California, a public safety power shutoff begun by Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday night was underway in parts of nine counties, affecting around 32,500 customers.

The shutoffs included parts of Butte County, where a 2018 blaze ignited by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment destroyed much of the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.