Regulators Fine California Power Company for Fatal Wildfire

2015 wildfire killed two people and destroyed over 500 homes

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Regulators say they have fined Pacific Gas and Electric Co. $8.3 million for failing to maintain a power line that sparked a massive blaze in Northern California that destroyed 549 homes and killed two people.

The California Public Utilities Commission said Tuesday it fined PG&E $8 million for poor tree maintenance by PG&E and its contractors and the rest for failing to report one of its power lines may have started the blaze.

A Cal Fire investigation found the state’s largest utility and its contractors failed to maintain a gray pine tree that slumped into a power line igniting the September 2015 fire in Amador County.

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The blaze burned for three weeks, killing two people and destroying more than 900 structures, including about 550 homes. The 110-square-mile fire caused an estimated $300 million in insured losses. It is the seventh-most destructive wildfire in California history.

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2015 wildfire killed two people and destroyed over 500 homes   SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Regulators say they have fined Pacific Gas and Electric Co. $8.3 million for failing to maintain a power line that sparked a massive blaze in Northern California that destroyed 549 homes and killed two people. The California Public Utilities Commission […]

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