In June, the utility reached a $12 million settlement with two Northern California counties after last year’s Zogg Fire was determined to have been caused by a pine tree contacting PG&E transmission lines. The 56,000-acre fire killed four people and destroyed more than 200 buildings.
PG&E also faces criminal charges for its role in igniting a 2019 wildfire that burned 120 square miles in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco. That blaze, called the Kincade Fire, damaged or destroyed more than 400 buildings and seriously injured six firefighters.
The utility emerged from bankruptcy last summer, placing $5.4 billion in cash and 22.19 percent of its stock into a trust for victims of wildfires caused by the utility’s equipment.
In its report on the possible ignition point of the Dixie Fire, PG&E said that early last Tuesday morning, a utility worker spotted what he thought were blown fuses atop a utility pole in a remote area. The worker could not immediately reach the pole, it said, “due to the challenging terrain and road work resulting in a bridge closure.”
When he finally got there, about 10 hours later, he noticed that a fire had started near the base of a tree.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/us/pge-dixie-fire.html
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