San Diego Gas and Electric Company has agreed to pay the state of California $14.8 million over three fires in 2007 that were caused by their power lines. Investigators determined that shoddy maintenance of the lines led to arcing, which started the Witch Creek, Guejito, and Rice Canyon fires that burned through the communities of Ramona, Fallbrook, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, and Rancho Santa Fe in October and November of 2007. The fires destroyed more than 1,300 homes, killed two people, and caused massive evacuations.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved the settlement on Thursday, as well as a $2 million settlement with Cox Communications. Investigators say one of Cox’s cables blew into a power line, starting the Guejito fire.  Both companies say they are not at fault for the fires, but just wanted to get the charges out of the way.

The Commission accused SDG&E of obstructing their investigation of the cause of the fires. According to the San Diego Union, in the settlement the company admitted that it didn’t give investigators the information they asked for and didn’t let its workers talk to the investigators, as required by law.

Wilderness Ridge fire. Photo: Jarred Lemmon

A law firm in Texas has created a web site to recruit plaintiffs who are interested in joining a lawsuit related to the Wilderness Ridge fire which burned 26 homes, 20 businesses, and 1,491 acres in Bastrop County, Texas in February, 2009. In a Case Study of the fire, the Texas Forest Service described it as “the most destructive wildfire in Central Texas”.

So far the lawyers have 20 plaintiffs that have signed on with them.

The fire was caused by a downed power line. The attorneys say a tree fell into the line, snapping it and starting the fire. In addition to suing the Bluebonnet Electrical Cooperative which was responsible for maintaining the line, they are suing Camp Wilderness Ridge, a children’s camp, which, according to the law firm:

…had allowed Bluebonnet to run power lines on its property. Like Bluebonnet, Camp Wilderness Ridge also failed to keep trees and vegetation from growing too close to the power lines.

The children’s camp claims that it is the sole responsibility of the utility company to maintain the power line and keep the easement clear.

The plaintiffs are seeking $8 million in property damages, and punitive damages against Bluebonnet in the amount of $16 million.

Personally, I have no problem with suing a power company if it can be proven that their negligence in failure to maintain a power line caused a fire. But suing a children’s camp too, because the power line went through their property? Really? How low can lawyers go?

A survey by Jobboom.com ranked the top 10 least trusted professions. Lawyer was number four, listed after used car salesman, politician, and mechanic, which were listed 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

Power lines that are not properly maintained have been responsible for starting many large devastating fires, have killed people, and destroyed thousands of homes.

As we reported on October 30, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) agreed to a settlement with the California Public Utilities Commission to pay $14.3 million for starting the Witch, Rice, and Guejito fires in eastern San Diego County in 2007. The company was also ordered by the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to apologize to the PUC for obstruction of their wildfire investigations. The PUC earlier fined SDG&E $1 million for withholding information from the PUC about the Sunrise Powerlink proposal, where concerns about future wildfires were noted in many public comments against the proposal. SDG&E power lines have also started other large fires, including the 1970 Laguna fire which killed eight people and burned 175,000 acres between Mt. Laguna and El Cajon, California.

And on December 12 Wildfire Today told you that the City of San Francisco agreed to pay the federal government $7 million for two fires in 1999 and 2004 that burned 5,698 acres and were caused by their power lines.

Power lines in Australia

Some of the fires in Australia on Black Saturday last February were caused by power lines. The Age has an article about an investigation or Royal Commission that is studying those fires. Here is an excerpt.

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Stronger power line fire-safety strategies urged

DEATHS in bushfires that were caused by power lines showed a huge failure to regulate electricity companies, the Bushfires Royal Commission has heard.

Energy Safe Victoria, or a similar organisation, should be made explicitly responsible for fire-safety strategies for power lines, said Graeme Hodge, of Monash University.

Professor Hodge faced questioning over a claim in his statement that ”… most observers would argue [that], to the degree that some of the state’s bushfires were a consequence of Victoria’s electricity infrastructure, citizens suffered a significant regulatory failure … it has been the indirect safety concerns around electricity transmission and distribution systems that appear to have failed.”

Professor Hodge has a background in the regulation of utilities, particularly electricity. He told the inquiry there was a difference between passive and active regulation and that some systems ”appear to have regulatory strength but it’s a ritual that they are going through”.

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More articles about power lines and fire danger can be found by clicking on our “power line” tag.

Thanks Dick

The City of San Francisco has agreed to pay the federal government $7 million for two fires that burned 5,698 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest. The 1999 Pilot fire and the 2004 Early fire were caused by tree limbs being too close to high-voltage power lines.

The power lines come from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir and power generating station near Yosemite National Park. In 1913, legislation granted the city a right of way for the hydroelectric system that delivers water and power to San Francisco.

The city’s Hetch Hetchy Water and Power company is responsible for maintaining a 10-foot clearance around the power line conductors. U. S. Forest Service fire investigators determined that the fires started from an electrical discharge from the power line to a cedar tree in the case of the Pilot fire, and an oak tree for the Early fire.

The city settled the lawsuit in order to avoid a trial. Regional Forester Randy Moore said some of the funds will be used for restoration.

A power line that was hanging near the ground after being struck by a falling tree electrocuted over a dozen animals near Eureka in northwestern Montana over the last few months. Officials found the carcasses of five whitetail deer, four black bears, two wolves, one coyote, and a turkey vulture in the area.

The power company did not know about the problem with the line until the power went out on October 10. A biologist with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks thinks the deer probably walked into the line first and their carcasses attracted the predators, which were then electrocuted.

All of the animals were in various stages of decomposition except for a large dead wolf that was still warm when the power company crew arrived on the scene.

San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) has agreed to a settlement with the California Public Utilities Commission to pay $14.3 million for starting the Witch, Rice, and Guejito fires in eastern San Diego County in 2007. Cox Communications agreed to pay $2 million without admitting they started the Guejito fire.

Here is an excerpt from a report in the San Diego Union Tribune.

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San Diego Gas & Electric and Cox Communications agreed Friday to pay $17 million to settle claims by state investigators that their shoddy maintenance led to three huge North County wildfires two years ago. SDG&E also apologized for obstructing investigators looking into the cause of the fires.

The companies did not admit fault for setting the fires, but said they would take steps to better maintain their lines and equipment. The settlement comes more than a year after investigators with the Public Utilities Commission concluded that power lines caused the Witch Creek, Guejito and Rice Canyon fires.

The fires burned more than 1,300 homes, killed two people and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands.

SDG&E agreed to pay $14.3 million to the state’s general fund and reimburse the PUC’s Consumer Protection and Safety Division up to $400,000 for a computer system designed to help investigate utility safety hazard incidents. The money will come out of SDG&Es profits, not from ratepayers.

As for the obstruction allegation, the company said it knows it has an “obligation and duty to respond promptly” when investigators need information and access to its workers. “SDG&E admits that its efforts fell short of meeting this obligation and duty in connection with the CPSD’s investigations into the Witch, Rice and Guejito fires and apologizes for permitting this to happen. SDG&E will conduct additional training in this area,” the company said in the settlement.

It also said it failed to file timely reports on the fires. In a statement, SDG&E President Debra Reed said the company wants to move on.

“We are settling this matter to put the issue behind us and avoid the costs and risks of further litigation,” she said.  ”As part of this settlement, we maintain that our system met all compliance and safety requirements, but we fell short of meeting our obligations with respect to three follow-up reports,” she said. She did not mention the apology.

Cox, meanwhile, agreed to pay $2 million to the general fund, without admitting that it caused the Guejito fire. Investigators said a Cox lashing wire came loose in high winds and caused arcing when it came in contact with an SDG&E power line.

“We believe that our line was properly maintained and intact prior to the Santa Ana winds in 2007, and did not cause the Guejito fire,” Cox said in a statement. “The CPUC has a long history of handling disputes through agreements, and we entered into this agreement in an effort to move forward and stay focused on the business of serving our customers and our community.”

The settlement does not affect the ongoing litigation in San Diego Superior Court in which hundreds of fire victims as well as governmental agencies are seeking damages from SDG&E. Earlier this year, SDG&E settled many claims, paying out more than $740 million to dozens of insurance companies seeking partial reimbursement for money they had already paid to clients.

However individual fire victims have yet to be compensated for losses beyond whatever insurance they may have had, and numerous governmental agencies such as CalFire and the city and county of San Diego are still trying to recover millions of dollars in fire fighting costs and other damages.

SDG&E has asked the PUC for permission to raise rates to pay for damages beyond what its insurance covers, and for higher insurance costs because of the fires. Lawyers involved in the case say it could still be years before the litigation ends.

SDG&E has not admitted responsibility for the fires. At some point a judge will have to schedule a trial or trials to determine whether SDG&E is liable.