PG&E Equipment May Be Linked To 30,000-Acre Dixie Fire, Preliminary Report Reveals
BUTTE COUNTY (CBS13) — Pacific Gas & Electric Company says its equipment was possibly involved in the start of the now 30,000-plus acre Dixie Fire.
According to an Electric Incident Report released on Sunday, a PG&E troubleman reported on the morning of July 13 seeing what looked like a blown fuse at some equipment at the Bucks Creek 1101 12kV line after an outage at the Cresta Dam off Highway 70.
The troubleman wasn't able to reach the pole until early that afternoon. At that point, the worker found two of three fuses blown and a tree leaning into a conductor. A fire was also on the ground, near the base of the tree, according to the report.
PG&E says the troubleman's supervisor then called 911 to report the fire. Cal Fire started doing drops onto the fire less than an hour later.
Both the time and location match Cal Fire's information about when and where the Dixie Fire started.
Investigators with Cal Fire have since collected PG&E equipment from the Bucks Creek location.
As of Monday morning, Cal Fire reports that the Dixie Fire has grown to 30,074 acres and is 15 percent contained. Some evacuation orders remain in place in Plumas and Butte counties.