Pacific Gas & Electric Company may be responsible for sparking the Dixie Fire now burning across Northern California.
In a report to the California Public Utilities Commission, the utility company says a worker saw the fire while inspecting a blown fuse last Tuesday. In the report, PG&E says the worker could not reach the pole immediately because of "challenging terrain" and a bridge closure from road work. When PG&E arrived on the scene, a fire was already active on the ground. The blaze has exploded in size since then, scorching more than 30,000 acres in Butte and Plumas Counties.
PG&E has been linked to some of California’s most destructive and deadliest wildfires. It pleaded guilty last year to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise.