PG&E lines may have sparked another Northern California wildfire.
In a regulatory filing, the utility says a tree fell onto one of its overhead lines on July 22nd along Highway 70 in Plumas County about the time the Fly Fire started, north of the town of Quincy. However, the utility says the information is preliminary and no direct cause of either fire has been determined. As the Associated Press reports, PG&E has just submitted its second report in as many weeks to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), suggesting that the Fly Fire, which broke out on July 22, could have originated where the U.S. Forest Service has recently been examining a tree that was in contact with a utility pole.
The Fly Fire burned 4,300 acres over three days before it merged into the much larger Dixie Fire.PG&E is being investigated in connection with the Dixie Fire as well. The fire is the largest in the state this year, having burned 249,635 acres and destroyed 67 buildings as of Monday night. The fire, burning northeast of the notorious 2018 Camp Fire, is 35% contained, according to The Sacramento Bee.