Reno, NV (AP) — Nevada’s largest utility plans to inspect power lines near a Reno neighborhood where a 2020 wildfire destroyed five homes and damaged two dozen others, a blaze that investigators blamed on arching power lines in gale force winds along the Sierra’s eastern front.
The inspection of NV Energy’s distribution line will be conducted later this month in response to a request from litigants in an ongoing lawsuit over damages resulting from the Pinehaven fire, company spokeswoman Jennifer Schuricht said Friday.
The Reno Gazette Journal first reported NV Energy’s plans.
Schuricht said in an email to The Associated Press the line will return to service after the inspection is complete. She didn’t provide any other details.
She said the company still believes the November 2020 brush fire that burned more than 500 acres most likely was sparked by a campfire that escaped in the nearby foothills of the Sierra.
A status conference is scheduled March 9 in a consolidated case combining four lawsuits in Washoe District Court that more than a dozen insurance companies have filed against NV Energy since state and Reno fire officials completed their investigation of the Pinehaven fire January 2021.
No one was killed or seriously injured. But more than 1,200 homes were evacuated in the Caughlin Ranch area, where power lines also were blamed for causing a wildfire in 2011.
Reno Fire Marshal Tray Palmer said they investigated but ruled out the likelihood the Pinehaven fire was caused by a campfire, target shooters, motorcycles or ATVs. He said they didn’t find any evidence of negligence on the part of the utility or signs of maintenance issues with the power lines that were blowing in winds up to nearly 80 mph.
NV Energy first announced in June 2019 it would begin following the lead of California utilities that pre-emptively cut off electricity in high-risk areas as storms move in and wildfire danger becomes extreme.
As part of a broader natural disaster protection plan, NV Energy has inspected more than 48,000 power poles in high-risk areas and made any necessary repairs, Schuricht said Friday.
It also has stepped up efforts to reduce wildfire risk through partnerships with state and local agencies “to remove brush, grass and other vegetation from under our power lines and other equipment,” she said.
And it continues to evaluate ways to “make our system more resilient,” including “replacing wooden poles with iron and steel poles in some locations and undergrounding some of our highest risk circuits,” she said.