Findings related to fires in Cali April 2018…

https://www.pgelawsuitguide.com

Evidence shows these fires were part of a related system failure caused by PG&E’s improper maintenance of its electrical infrastructure, failure to clear trees and vegetation as required under state law, and failure to take protective measures in light of known weather conditions. The lawsuits against PG&E include the following specific allegations:

An independent report issued to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in May 2013 found that PG&E’s aging infrastructure presented “significant safety issues,” particularly in poor weather conditions.In addition, PG&E possessed over 10 years of historical data showing that seasonal winds regularly occur in the region and pose a serious risk to electrical equipment.According to CAL FIRE records, electrical equipment was responsible for approximately 135 fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties between the years 2011 and 2015.In May 2016, government regulators put PG&E on further notice that specific areas of the North Bay faced an elevated risk of power line fires due to strong winds, abundant dry vegetation, and other environmental conditions.Despite this knowledge, recent audits of PG&E’s Sonoma Division alone revealed over 3,500 unattended repair and maintenance requests.In fact, PG&E has a documented practice of diverting substantial funds away from tree-trimming and other critical maintenance programs while reaching nearly $1.4 billion in profits per year.Further, PG&E has maintained an outdated and dangerous practice of using reclosers to automatically restart power after service interruptions. Reclosers send electrical pulses through the system’s power lines whenever an interruption occurs. If such a line is downed or in contact with trees and vegetation, these surges of electricity create a serious risk of starting fires. As the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported, other utility companies such as San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Edison have ceased this dangerous practice entirely during the fire season.Moreover, PG&E failed to turn off power preemptively despite a known forecast of high winds, low humidity, and dry conditions creating a substantial regional fire risk, and further failed to turn off power to mitigate damage once the disaster began.As a result, beginning in the early evening on October 8, 2017, emergency responders received dozens of calls reporting electrical outages, transformer explosions, sparking power lines, and tree fires in close to proximity to PG&E utility equipment.PG&E reported electrical outages near the origins of the Tubbs fire as early as 8:51pm on October 8, 2017.The scope of the resulting fire damage is well known to those in the region, with over 245,000 acres burned, nearly 9,000 homes and businesses destroyed, and 43 fire-related deaths.On January 3, 2018, California state regulators revealed unredacted PG&E fire incident reports identifying damaged utility equipment at the origin sites of the Nuns, Atlas, Partrick, and Tubbs fires: 

1210 Nuns Canyon Road, Glen Ellen4011 Atlas Peak Road, Napa1721 Partrick Road, Napa1128 Bennett Lane, CalistogaSubsequently, in May and June 2018, CAL FIRE released findings that 16 of the North Bay fires were caused by trees or branches falling onto PG&E power lines in violation of state law, the failure of PG&E-owned power poles resulting in lines and equipment coming into contact with the ground, power line conductors separating from connectors and falling to the ground, and PG&E's attempt to reenergize downed power lines while the lines were in contact with vegetation.These findings follow a long history of PG&E safety violations that have caused devastating fire damage and explosions. Prior events include the 1994 Trauner fire(739 counts of criminal negligence and $24 million in penalties); the 2003 Mission District Substation fire; the 2008 Rancho Cordova explosion ($38 million in CPUC fines); the 2010 San Bruno explosion (6 felony charges and $1.6 billion in penalties); the 2011 Cupertino explosion; the 2014 Carmel explosion ($36 million in total fines); and the 2015 Butte fire ($98.3 million in fines and costs).