Fire investigators seize equipment from PG&E amid suspicion one of their power lines sparked Zogg blaze that killed four and destroyed more than 100 homes
A Northern California wildfire that killed four people and destroyed 200 structures may have been sparked by power line equipment, investigators have revealed.
Fire officials looking into what caused the Zogg Fire have taken possession of equipment belonging to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the utility has reported.
PG&E said in a filing Friday with the Public Utilities Commission that investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection seized some of its electrical equipment near where the Zogg Fire started on September 27.
The fire erupted in Shasta County during high winds and quickly grew, killing four people in the community of Igo, which has a population 600.
A Northern California wildfire that killed four people and destroyed 200 structures may have been sparked by power line equipment, investigators have revealed
Fire officials looking into what caused the Zogg Fire have taken possession of equipment belonging to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the utility has reported
It later spread to neighboring Tehama County. As of Sunday, it has scorched more than 56,000 acres and destroyed 204 buildings, about half of them homes. It is at 97 per cent containment.
PG&E said it does not have access to the evidence collected by Cal Fire, which has yet to determine a cause for the fire.
PG&E, the nation's largest utility, recently emerged from bankruptcy stemming from financial fallout from several devastating wildfires caused by its utility equipment that killed more than 100 people and destroyed more than 27,000 homes and other buildings in 2017 and 2018.
Customers in the area where the fire started, near Zogg Mine Road and Jenny Bird Lane north of Igo, are served by a 12,000-volt PG&E circuit.
On the day the Zogg Fire began, the utility's automated equipment in the area 'reported alarms and other activity between approximately 2.40pm and 3.06pm,' PG&E told regulators. The line was then de-activated, officials said.
The Shasta County Sheriff´s Office identified one of the victims as Alaina Michelle Rowe, 45, who was found dead along a road on September 28.
PG&E (workers pictured on September 30) said it does not have access to the evidence collected by Cal Fire, which has yet to determine a cause for the fire
In an update Sunday morning, Cal Fire said more than 13,400 firefighters 'continue to battle 20 major wildfires in California'. Officials said the wildfires combined have scorched a total of 4 million acres
KRCR-TV in Redding reported that Rowe and her eight-year-old daughter Feyla died as they tried to escape the fire.
In June, Pacific Gas & Electric confessed to killing 84 people in one of the most devastating wildfires in recent US history during a dramatic court hearing punctuated by a promise from the company's outgoing CEO that the utility will never again put profits ahead of safety.
PG&E CEO Bill Johnson pleaded guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from a November 2018 wildfire ignited by the utility's crumbling electrical grid.
The blaze nearly wiped out the entire town of Paradise and drove PG&E into bankruptcy early last year.
In an update Sunday morning, Cal Fire said more than 13,400 firefighters 'continue to battle 20 major wildfires in California'.
Officials said the wildfires combined have scorched a total of 4 million acres.
Five of the top 20 largest wildfires in California history have occurred in 2020, with the largest being the August Complex Fire and the deadliest being the North Complex Fire.