CA Wine Country Burning

[+ pitman]

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8413929-181/cal-fire-pge-equipment-caused

 

Cal Fire: PG&E equipment caused 12 Northern California fires during October firestorm

Cal Fire findings on 12 Northern California wildfires

Those referred to the District Attorney indicate Cal Fire determined PG&E was in violation of state code.

 

Redwood fire (Mendocino County): 543 structures destroyed, 9 deaths, 36,523 acres burned. The fires started in two locations when trees or tree parts fell onto PG&E power lines.

 

Nuns, Norrbom, Adobe, Partrick & Pythian fires (Sonoma and Napa counties): 1,355 structures destroyed; 3 deaths, 56,556 acres burned (Sonoma and Napa counties); all but Nuns fire referred to District Attorney.

• Nuns: Broken top of a tree crashed into powerlines.

• Norrbom: Tree fell onto powerlines.

• Adobe: Tree fell into PG&E powerline.

• Partrick: Oak tree fell into PG&E powerlines.

• Pythian: The fire started with a downed powerline caused after PG&E tried to re-energize the line.

 

Atlas fire (Napa County): 783 structures burned, 51,624 acres burned, 6 deaths; referred to the District Attorney.

 

Sulphur fire (Lake County): 2,207 acres, 162 structures destroyed; referred to the District Attorney. Fire ignited when a PG&E power pole failed, causing power lines and equipment to contact the ground.

 

Pocket fire (Sonoma County): 6 structures destroyed, 17,357 acres burned; referred to the District Attorney.

 

37 fire (Sonoma County): 3 structures destroyed, 1,660 acres burned (Sonoma County). PG&E distribution lines started an electrical fire.

 

Blue fire (Humboldt County): 20 acres burned; referred to the District Attorney. A PG&E powerline conductor separated from a connector, causing the conductor to fall to the ground and start a fire.

 

Cherokee fire (Butte County): 6 structures destroyed, 8,417 acres burned. Fire started when tree limbs made contact with PG&E powerlines.

 

 

Cal Fire investigators said Friday that equipment owned and operated by PG&E ignited 12 wildfires that raged in hot, dry weather and high winds across Northern California in October, charring hundreds of square miles in Sonoma County and beyond, destroying thousands of structures and killing 18 people.

 

The utility was in violation of state code on eight of those fires, failing to clear brush around its lines and properly maintain its power equipment, according to state fire investigators.

[Larstrup]

More than 30,000 people ordered to evacuate several Sierra foothills towns near Chico, Ca. Wildfire burning out of control, has grown to more than 18,000 acres.

 

Camp Fire devastates Paradise near Chico — hospital, church, businesses, numerous homes burn.

 

PARADISE, Butte County — More than 30,000 people fled for their lives Thursday as a late-season wildfire swept across this town in the Sierra foothills, incinerating numerous homes and businesses and prompting desperate rescues of residents trapped inside buildings and on clogged evacuation routes.

 

The blaze exploded to more than 18,000 acres in just the first eight hours, adding to a catastrophic two years of wildfires in California that have raised new questions about how the state will cope with a warmer and drier climate.

 

Smoke turned the daytime sky black in the community of 27,000 that sits 15 miles east of Chico and 80 miles north of Sacramento. Authorities raced to evacuate a hospital, which caught fire, while calling in hundreds of firefighters from across the region to attack the flames from the ground and by air.

 

Among the structures lost to the flames were a McDonald’s, a Mormon church, a Black Bear Diner and the town’s wood welcome sign. Streams of residents hurried out of town, inching along the few available routes. As the day wore on, family members and friends searched for scores of missing people.

 

The cause of the fire, which ignited at 6:30 a.m., was under investigation. Authorities released no immediate information about the extent of the damage, injuries or potential fatalities.

 

The blaze, named the Camp Fire because of its proximity to Camp Creek Road near Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon, was scorching several areas within Paradise, which is home to many retirees. By Thursday afternoon, it was moving west toward Chico. Acting Gov. Gavin Newsom, filling in while Gov. Jerry Brown traveled out of state, declared a state of emergency in Butte County.

 

Firefighters spent the morning trying to evacuate trapped Paradise residents while creating firebreaks within the town and even moving some people to empty parking lots.

 

“In the past few years, just the way fires have moved, firefighters have had to help with evacuations before they can go back in to put out the fire,” said Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Evacuations-ordered-across-Butte-County-as-Camp-13374840.php

 

Please consider a Holiday donation this year to the California Professional Firefighters

Edited November 9, 2018 by Larstrup