Power lines suspected in nearly half of the more than dozen fires around the state.
Officials say that they would investigate utilities’ use of power shutdowns to prevent infernos
Power lines are suspected in nearly half of the more than dozen fires that erupted around the state amid strong October winds even as utilities unleashed unprecedented, widespread blackouts in an effort to avoid sparking blazes.
Among them are the massive Kincade fire still burning in Sonoma County Wine Country and Southern California fires this week near the Reagan library and Getty museum.
State officials this week said they would investigate the uti l ities’ use of power shutdowns after the blackouts to hundreds of thousands of customers in a state that is home to marquee technology companies like Google, Apple and Facebook made California a national punchline.
The causes of most of the fires remain under investigation. Did the power shutoffs help or do more harm than good?
“It’s really too early to tell as far as the effectiveness of the utility shutdowns,” said Scott McLean, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. “We are definitely delving into that.”
San Diego Gas and Electric pioneered the so-called public safety power shut-offs after the devastating 2007 Witch fire. Pacific Gas and Electric was criticized last fall after it decided against deenergizing a major transmission line east of Chico that failed and sparked the Camp fire, California’s deadliest and most destructive.
“It’s really too early to tell as far as the effectiveness of the utility shutdowns. We are definitely delving into that.”
— Scott McLean, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
But after initiating its largest- ever public safety power shut- offs in October to avoid igniting another blaze, PG& E was blasted for cutting power so broadly, leaving many residents without electricity for days.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the utility’s admittedly clumsy implementation “inexcusable” and declared that “utilities must be held accountable and be aggressively penalized for their overreliance” on the shut- offs to avoid fires. He called on the California Public Utilities Commission to “launch a total reform of power shutoff rules and regulations.”
Yet even with all the inconvenience and cost of the blackouts, fires broke out as well, many linked to power equipment.
PG& E acknowledged that its high-voltage transmission line near The Geysers geothermal plants in Sonoma County may have ignited the Kincade fire, which has scorched more than 76,000 acres, destroyed some 266 homes and buildings and forced mass evacuations. The fire erupted Oct. 23 near an energized line during safety shut- offs to some 28,000 Sonoma County customers.
Three days later, PG& E acknowledged its equipment may have been involved in two smaller fires in Lafayette, one involving a fallen power pole and transformer, another involving communication wiring coming loose and contacting a power line.
PG& E wasn’t the only utility making such disclosures.
Southern California Edison reported that its “facilities were impacted close in time” to the eruption of the Saddle Ridge fire Oct. 10. The fire, which consumed some 8,800 acres near Sylmar, started beneath a high-voltage transmission tower. Edison had cut power to some 24,000 homes and businesses because of high winds and red-flag fire warnings that day.
The Southern California utility also reported Wednesday that “there was circuit activity” on a distribution line about the same time the Easy fire started burning near Simi Valley and threatened the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Some 82,000 customers were shut off that day amid high winds and fire threats.
In addition, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported that Monday’s Getty fire that has burned some 750 acres in Brentwood near the famous Getty Center art museum was started by a tree branch falling on power lines during high winds.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which serves that area, did not shut off power to customers during the high winds. As a matter of policy, the department does not shut off power because it serves an urban area that doesn’t pose the same wildfire risks.
But despite a handful of high-profile wildfires that may have been ignited by energized power lines, utility officials say scores of other blazes may have been averted from lines that were found damaged from winds.
PG& E found 143 cases in which crews found wires or equipment from Bakersfield to the Oregon border that were damaged by winds during the public safety power shutoffs Saturday and Tuesday, spokesman Jeff Smith said. “It’s always more of a challenge to demonstrate what might have happened,” Smith said. “But we absolutely believe these 143 events are very much the type of incident that could lead to a potential wildfire if the lines were energized.”