Did PG&E adequately maintain power lines before fires started?

Yes, there were hurricane-force winds driving the Wine Country fire. There were — are — drought-damaged trees for ready fuel, and scrub vegetation parched over the summer for tinder.

But we need to understand exactly how this cluster of wildfires developed into one of the most destructive in California history. The horrific loss of life and property demands that Cal Fire conduct a thorough investigation into the causes.

One possibility is that electric utilities damaged by the unusual 75 mph winds Sunday night sparked the fires. A Bay Area News Group review of emergency radio traffic reveals that Sonoma County dispatchers sent fire crews to at least 10 locations over a 90-minute period to check reports of sparking wires and other electrical problems.

At this point, discussing possible causes is “highly speculative,” as a PG&E spokesman said Tuesday. But if utilities were a factor, people need to know if the lines in that area — and in other parts of California vulnerable to fire — have been properly maintained.

PUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said Tuesday that once fire officials determine the probable cause, “if it appears that a utility line may have been involved, the PUC will investigate.”

No kidding.

PG&E and other utilities in California have a long history of diverting maintenance funds into profits. The PUC knows this, and knows all too well the fire danger from gas and power lines. PG&E has been doing maintenance work in Sonoma and Napa counties. The question is the extent of that work and the PUC’s role in monitoring it.

Given the PUC’s cozy history with PG&E, that needs a close look.

The San Bruno gas line explosion and fire in 2010 that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes is the most

PG&E and other utilities in California have a long history of diverting maintenance funds into profits.

infamous example. For months, PUC President Michael Peevey was PG&E’s biggest ally in fending off accountability for the explosion. Peevey eventually departed in disgrace, and PG&E was convicted of a felony and fined $1.6 billion for diverting maintenance funds into stockholder dividends and executive bonuses.

Just this April PG&E was fined $8.3 million for failure to adequately maintain power lines that sparked the 2015 the Butte fire in Amador County, killing two people and destroyed 549 homes.

As far back as 1994, PG&E was found guilty of negligence in the Rough and Ready fire that destroyed 12 homes. In that case, prosecutors learned afterward that PG&E had diverted nearly $80 million from its tree-trimming programs into profits.

State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, is the chair of the state Senate Subcommittee on Gas, Electric and Transportation Safety. He was already planning a hearing on the extent to which utilities are living up to state maintenance standards.

It may be that something other than downed power lines created the Wine Country firestorm. It may be that the bestmaintained lines can’t withstand hurricane winds.

But we need to know. And PUC needs to be forthcoming about what it knows and doesn’t know about utilities’ maintenance.