PG&E aware overhead wires harden with age

I have lived in California for over 60 years. There have always been fall winds; I remember being blown off my feet while attending UC Davis in 1975 one dry October.

So, why so many fires from downed wires these days? I suspect that, over the years, winds have caused the overhead wires and their support components to harden as they were blown around, getting more brittle as they flexed over time.

PG&E’s engineers had to be aware of this tendency, as it’s taught in every introductory materials science course. But, PG&E’s corporate greed and managerial incompetence led PG&E to skip proper maintenance in lieu of corporate profits.

Thus, we now see abundant wildfires sparked by overhead wires succumbing to old age. This should have been foreseen years ago. There is no excuse.

— Lawrence Koepke, San Jose