SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – PG&E has told state regulators that officials are investigating whether one of the utility's power lines sparked the 570-acre Old Fire earlier this week.
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The company told KCBS Radio in an emailed statement on Friday that it had filed an electric incident report with the California Public Utilities Commission "out of an abundance of caution." In the memo to the agency, PG&E said a fault occurred on a nearby line "within minutes" of the Old Fire's reported 3:35 p.m. start time on Tuesday, "though at this time we are not aware of any downed lines."
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported on the memo's existence on Friday.
CAL FIRE and PG&E are investigating the fire, according to the utility. CAL FIRE, which didn't respond to KCBS Radio's voicemail requesting comment prior to publication on Friday afternoon, reported that the fire was 100% contained as of Sunday morning.
PG&E said the power line's advanced safety settings – allowing the line to automatically turn off power when an object strikes it or a fault occurs – weren't enabled because the conditions didn't meet the settings' criteria. The utility's website says the settings are to be enabled whenever there's elevated wildfire risk, "most likely from May to November."
Parts of the Bay Area experienced record-setting temperatures in the days leading up to the Old Fire, although temperatures cooled heading into Memorial Day. Still, all of Napa County was experiencing severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, raising the wildfire risk as vegetation becomes more flammable.
State investigators have determined that PG&E equipment was responsible for a number of wildfires in recent years, including the nearly million-acre Dixie Fire last summer, the destructive 2019 Kincade Fire and the deadly Camp Fire in 2018. In the latter case, PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2020.
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