Pacific Gas & Electric says some power lines were knocked down the time the northern California fire started. Covered California says the ACA is here to stay. This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. It is Wednesday, November 1. Our top story from the first day of the devastating northern California fires last month there was speculation that high winds toppling power lines may have spark some of the fires. The cause of the fires which killed 43 people is under investigation by CalFire. There's new information about the PG&E power lines. The commission released documents from PG&E detailing a series of instances where the utility says trees or tree limbs brought down some power lines in the hours when the fire started. Joining me is Marie sub. Is there any direct connection being made in the documents between the down power lines in the fire's?It's part of the incident and that's why PG&E is reporting. They said the report -- we see 1500 reports to damage of their equipment and were talking about 20 here. None of them are saying this cause anything but they are required step in the investigation that CalFire is doing and PG&E is conducting.Give us an idea of where these incidences happen to and when?Some of it is unclear. Many of them were inside the actual footprint of the fires in Napa and Sonoma counties or very close to that. Were talking about reports of trees or tree limbs knocking over equipment, circuit breakers. We could only do as much as possible to connect the dots but it's unclear at this point if any of them are close to where CalFire believe some of these fires began.One of the information is in the documents?Not a lot. These are very short reports. They include a date when they believe it occurred. A lot of time the date is an estimate or the time is an estimate. A short description of the damage that PG&E found. So whether it's the specifics of the height and type of tree that knocked over and how far away it was from the power equipment and in many cases they see that CalFire has taken custody of that equipment.What is PG&E thing about the possible role in the fires?They been very clear that it's too early to draw conclusions. They made it clear that they believe that the winds on that evening were beyond the realm of what anybody could've predicted. I think with those statements and also with a lot of the details they included in these reports but did they detail on how far away the trees were? They are starting to make a case that they are not liable. I think in a lot of these cases there making clear that they believe the trees were far and away with those boundaries.As I understand it CalFire says that they don't have a cause yet for any of these fires because it's still under investigation. Do we know how CalFire is conducting this investigation question markI would say meticulously. They are folks on the ground and experts looking at what happened in wind patterns, reports from 911 calls. A lot of the same things that we are looking into. It's not unusual that it can take months for them to come up with a cause especially when we talk about the series of events. They are looking into many fires.Recently PG&E joined with San Diego gas and electric to go against regulators in support the claim that customers pay for some of the costs and that SDG&E power lines look like it cause. To think it will have any effect?It's hard to say. They're supposed to look at each of the cases individually. I was speaking to an expert this morning about the fact that a regular court of law -- just say they were allowed to pass, it would not mean that PG&E would be allowed to if they were being found at fault. They clearly don't have the insurance to cover the cost of these incidences. The own judges have recommended that the commission rule against SDG&E. It is something that I think all the utilities and ratepayers will be watching.When it comes to determining the cause of what they're calling the October 2017 fire siege, you say could take months?It could. I don't know exactly if they have estimates, but in other cases it has taken months. I think they want to be meticulous and CPUC will not open their own investigation into this and tell and unless CalFire says that they believe power lines were involved.I've been speaking with Marisa Lagos. Thank you very much.My pleasure.
Pacific Gas and Electric has informed state regulators of at least eight instances in which trees or tree limbs brought down power lines in the hours when a series of devastating wildfires started in the North Bay earlier this month.
PG&E’s incident reports to the California Public Utilities Commission provide brief accounts of trees toppling in high winds in an area stretching from Potter Valley, in Mendocino County, to the outskirts of Napa late the night of Oct. 8 and early Oct. 9.
The exact location of the incidents is redacted from the documents, released Tuesday by the CPUC. But many of the incidents were located inside or near the perimeters of the wildfires. In most of the reports, PG&E said Cal Fire had taken possession of tree limbs and damaged electrical equipment as part of its investigation into how the wildfires started.
“This is definitely something the investigators will take a look at,” Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said Tuesday. She said the agency will try to determine whether there’s a link between the fires — which Cal Fire is calling the October 2017 Fire Siege — and PG&E’s incident reports.
Cal Fire has yet to announce a cause for the fires across Northern California that killed 43 people, destroyed an estimated 8,900 structures, burned more than 245,000 acres and forced more than 100,000 residents from their homes.
“There’s a lot of leg work to do, there’s a lot of interviews to do, a lot of people to talk to … and a lot of things to rule out,” Tolmachoff said of the investigations.
The CPUC requires utilities to cooperate with investigations with any major incidents. If Cal Fire determines that PG&E power lines or equipment caused the fires, then the CPUC will open a formal investigation. Utilities are required to preserve evidence for up to five years.
According to the brief accounts PG&E submitted to the CPUC, trees took down or damaged power lines near Napa and Calistoga in Napa County; near Santa Rosa, Glen Ellen, Kenwood and Geyserville in Sonoma County; and Potter Valley in Mendocino County. Similar damage was reported at locations in Lake, Butte and Yuba counties, where fires also broke out.
In several instances, the PG&E reports note high wind speeds at the time a tree fell. For instance, the utility said, wind gusts reached 65 mph in the Geyserville incident, 58 mph in the Glen Ellen case and 50 mph in Potter Valley.
In addition to the tree-related equipment damage, the PG&E reports include several cases in which the utility said Cal Fire took possession of apparently undamaged power lines and other equipment as part of its probe into the fires.
Under CPUC rules, utilities are required to file safety incident reports like those the commission released Tuesday.
“They’re part of what we’re examining in our investigation,” said CPUC spokeswoman Constance Gordon. She said that the redactions — which include details of the location and type of power facilities involved in the Oct. 8-9 incidents — are temporary “pending completion by our staff and Cal Fire of the initial investigation review and the collection of evidence. Once there’s no longer a serious risk that the integrity of the evidence and data collection process will be compromised, the original versions of the incident reports will be posted in place of the redacted versions.”
In a statement later Tuesday, PG&E said it is “committed to being open and transparent throughout this process. … The information provided in these reports is preliminary and PG&E is fully cooperating with the investigations of Cal Fire and the CPUC. There has been no determination on the causes of the fires.”
You can read PG&E’s incident reports to the CPUC here:
