PG&E said its equipment may have been involved in the start of a small wildfire that merged with the massive Dixie Fire now threatening homes in Northern California mountains.
The U.S. Forest Service was examining a tree found on PG&E power lines near the town of Quincy in Plumas County where the Fly Fire began on July 22, according to the PG&E’s report to the California Public Utilities Commission. The smaller blaze burned through more than 6 square miles of forest before combining with the much larger Dixie Fire two days later.
Two weeks ago, PG&E told regulators that the Dixie Fire may have been ignited July 14 when a tree fell on another one of its power lines near the Cresta Dam, west of where the Fly Fire started later.
The Dixie Fire, currently California’s largest blaze, covered about 388 square miles in mountains where 67 homes and other buildings have been destroyed. Evacuation orders were issued Monday for Greenville, a town of about 1,000 people, as strong winds pushed flames through Plumas and Butte counties. The fire was 35% contained as of Tuesday.
It was burning northeast of the town of Paradise, where survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire that was started by PG&E equipment watched warily. The Camp Fire killed 85 people.
PG&E equipment has been blamed for sparking some of the state’s deadliest wildfires in recent years, most notably in 2017 and 2018 when a series of wildfires burned down more than 28,000 buildings and killed more than 100 people. It emerged from bankruptcy last year after a series of deadly wildfires ignited by its long-neglected electrical grid prompted it to declare financial insolvency.
