By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
After Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) said in July of this year that blown fuses on one of its utility poles may have caused the Dixie Fire, one of the largest in the Upstate, inspectors from California's largest utility company said they found no indication that power lines such as poles caused the blaze.
In cooperating with authorities to discover the origin of the fire, known as the Dixie Fire, which has already been labeled the second largest in California history, he detailed in an inspection summary that his crews conducted routine inspections on May 13 of the two power poles located where the fire started and found no problems.
"These inspections found nothing that required corrective action at or between poles 908 and 909," PG&E said.
Although the last inspection was carried out in December 2016.
Authorities have so far believed that the start of the massive fire may have started in a tree, however, PG&E said that according to a Jan. 14 inspection, it had no problem and was due to be re-inspected on Sept. 21.
In that regard, PG&E explained that on July 13, an employee saw a "healthy green tree" leaning against a conductor on a pole and a fire burning on the ground near its base, a situation that was made known to the California Public Utilities Commission.
PG&E is in the eye of the storm for the Dixie fire, however, the company said it has taken corrective actions to prevent further fires at all costs and has also invested in pruning tree limbs that could be considered hazardous.
However, this is not the first time PG&E has been blamed for such phenomena. In 2018, a series of mega-fires, including the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, landed the company in bankruptcy court.
Just last year, PG&E emerged from bankruptcy, but it already faces other financial and legal charges for the 2019 Kincade Fire in Sonoma County and last fall's Zogg Fire in Shasta County.
While a federal judge in San Francisco has ordered PG&E to submit detailed information about the start of the Dixie Fire, the company has reported that it could cut power to residents in 16 counties in the face of fire danger.
This, PG&E officials said, is due to the forecast of dry winds, which, combined with the lack of rainfall and extremely dry vegetation, increase the risk of these fires.
Thus, approximately 39,000 customers located in small areas within 16 counties could have a power outage, of which the majority - about 27,000 - are located in Butte and Shasta counties, while the rest belong to Humboldt, Tehama, Glenn, Trinity, Lake, Lassen, Sierra, Plumas, Yolo, Yuba, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
PG&E said its meteorologists continue to monitor weather conditions from the utility's Emergency Operations Center in San Francisco and will provide updates as they become available.
The Dixie Fire has been burning for more than a month, but is only 31 percent contained. Thousands of people have been evacuated from at least eight counties, while counties such as Plumas have been completely leveled.
According to CalFire, the Dixie Fire has grown to nearly 570,000 acres since it was parked in mid-July, making it the second largest wildfire in California's recorded history.
Also, he said, it has been an extremely destructive fire with more than 1,100 structures destroyed, making it the 14th most destructive wildfire in California history.
Critical weather in the area continues to challenge firefighters, while evacuation orders and warnings continue to change, so CalFire urged vigilance in staying informed of the latest evacuation directions, as orders can change at any time.
Learn about the 20 most important forest fires great, deadly and destructive in California history.
