California’s Wind-Driven Blaze Spurs Massive Evacuations
27 October 2019 | Courthouse News Service |
“…What sparked the current fires is unknown, but PG&E said a 230,000-volt transmission line near Geyserville malfunctioned minutes before that blaze erupted Wednesday night..”
Flames from the Kincade Fire consume Soda Rock Winery on Sunday, Oct 27, 2019, in Healdsburg, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities in Northern California ordered 180,000 residents to flee their homes Sunday as historic winds fueled a wildfire in the wine country, while electricity was shut off for millions of people in an effort to prevent more fires.
“…What sparked the current fires is unknown, but PG&E said a 230,000-volt transmission line near Geyserville malfunctioned minutes before that blaze erupted Wednesday night.
The utility acknowledged a tower malfunction prompted a strategy change for determining when to kill high-voltage transmission lines, Andrew Vesey, CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said Friday.
The possible link between the wine country fire and a PG&E transmission line contained grim parallels to last year when most of the town of Paradise burned, killing 85 people in the deadliest U.S. blaze in a century.
State officials concluded a PG&E transmission line sparked that fire….”
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More than 2 million people expected to lose power in PG&E blackout as California wildfires rage
CNBC “..The weekend outage is the second major shutoff by PG&E this month, after the company two weeks ago cut power to nearly 2 million people to avoid fires sparked by its electricity lines.
Firefighters battle a wind driven wildfire in the hills of Canyon Country north of Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 24, 2019.
Gene Blevins | Reuters
PG&E’s equipment has sparked 19 major fires in 2017 and 2018, and the company was blamed for last year’s Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 86 people.
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