Report: Failed PG&E power line may have sparked Old Fire in Napa County

By Web Staff

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    NAPA, California (KPIX) — Power line equipment from Pacifica Gas and Electric may have started the Old Fire in Napa County according to a filing by the utility company with state regulators.

As of Friday morning, the fire has burned at least 570 acres in the area of Old Soda Springs Road northeast of Napa. The fire began Tuesday afternoon in a location close to a fault on one of PG&E’s lines occurring within minutes of Cal Fire’s reported start time, according to the utility.

PG&E said it was not aware of any downed lines in the area. The line that failed was not enabled with adjusted equipment sensitivity that automatically turns off power if it detects a problem, because the conditions did not meet the criteria for enabling the adjustment, the utility said.

PG&E’s Electric Incident Report (EIR) filed Tuesday with the California Public Utilities Commission said the report comes “out of an abundance of caution as it involves an event that may meet the significant media coverage reporting requirement.” The investigation remained ongoing, it said.

The Old Fire forced a number of evacuations on Soda Springs Road but residents were allowed back into their homes on Wednesday. No structures were damaged.

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