PG&E Line Suspected In Camp Fire Had Issues In 2012
BUTTE COUNTY (CBS SF / AP) -- A transmission line that utility Pacific Gas & Electric Company says malfunctioned minutes before the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County was supported by steel towers that toppled over in a fierce 2012 storm.
The San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday that trouble on PG&E's 115,000-volt Caribou Palermo line date to December 2012, when five towers toppled.
PG&E proposed replacing six towers on the line by 2013 and finished the repairs in 2016.
In a regulatory filing after the devastating Nov. 8 fire, PG&E said it detected an outage on an electrical transmission line near the site of the blaze.
It said a subsequent aerial inspection showed damage to a tower on the line in the town of Pulga. Another transmission line in the nearby community of Concow also malfunctioned a short time later, possibly sparking a second fire.
PG&E has said it is cooperating with investigations into the fire.
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