PG&E inspections of equipment that sparked deadly Camp fire were flawed, state regulators say
December 3, 2019 | News | No Comments
State regulators said Pacific Gas & Electric failed to adequately inspect and maintain aging power lines that started last year’s devastating Camp fire, which obliterated the town of Paradise and killed 86 people.
In a 696-page report filed last week, investigators with the California Public Utilities Commission cited PG&E for violating a dozen state safety rules and regulations.
PG&E “failed to maintain an effective inspection and maintenance program to identify and correct hazardous conditions on its transmission lines,” the report says.
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State investigators said there was “visible wear” evident on the arms of the tower tied to the fire but that PG&E failed to conduct climbing inspections of the tower that could have revealed it.
PG&E crews had not climbed the tower that malfunctioned and sparked the Camp fire since at least 2001, the report said.
“This omission is a violation of PG&E’s own policy requiring climbing inspections on towers where recurring problems exist,” the report states.
A climbing inspection could have identified a worn C-hook that failed, and “its timely replacement could have prevented ignition of the Camp fire,” the report says.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection concluded earlier this year that PG&E equipment caused the devastating blaze.
The utility has not disputed the findings. PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in January in part because of losses from the November 2018 fire. Scores of lawsuits have been filed against the utility.
PG&E could not be reached for comment on the Public Utilities Commission report Monday night. But in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, the utility said it accepts the conclusions of the report “reaffirming” findings of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“We remain deeply sorry about the role our equipment had in this tragedy, and we apologize to all those impacted by the devastating Camp Fire,” spokesman Paul Doherty told the Chronicle.
There were systematic problems with the company’s oversight of the nearly 100-year-old Caribou-Palermo power line blamed for the fire, the deadliest in state history, according to the report.
