California fire: 2,000 people evacuated, 20,000 without electricity

The wildfires which spread in Northern California's wine country forced nearly 2,000 natives to flee their homes, 20,000 without electricity, along with evacuation of nearly 40,000 residents. The blazes which consumed about 5,000 acres and destroyed an unknown number of structures had begun near the base of a high-voltage transmission tower and was damaged. The tower was owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co acknowledged that it was an “electric safety incident” in the report to the California Public Utilities Commission. One of its power lines malfunctioned at the same time and location where the fire was originated. Company's bankrupt holding company, PG&E Corp technician was inspecting the site which was discovered by the state fire department. 

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System impacted at the same time

The company which is a unit of Edison International claimed that they had notified the California Public Utility Commission on October 11 that their system was impacted near the reported time of the fire.  The Fire Department spokesman reportedly claimed earlier that the investigators had traced the fire's origin to a slope beneath the high-voltage tower near Saddle Ridge Road, however, the tower was not suspected of sparking the blaze.  The Saddle Ridge fire broke out on October 10 and erupted across the northern edge of San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. It has reportedly destroyed nearly 8,000 acres, threatened more than 17,000 homes. 

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Corrective measures of the company

The company had reportedly turned off power to some customers across the region as a precaution after extreme winds and dry weather had raised the risk of wildfire. However, a utility spokeswoman told an international media that Edison had not de-energize any power for the Saddleridge fire area. In Northern California, Utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co faced increasing criticism for its own wide-scale precautionary power shutdown and poorly managed communication between both the companies. The Public Utility Commission on October 14 ordered PG&E to undertake corrective actions.  However, neither PG&E nor the commission said if the damaged tower or the malfunction of the transmission line were suspected of igniting the blaze. 

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(With inputs from agencies)