A high-voltage power line broke seven minutes before the eruption of the still-raging wildfire that’s blackened 25 square miles, ravaged nearly 50 structures and forced thousands of evacuations in Northern California, according to a new report.
A jumper cable on a transmission tower broke close to where authorities say the Kincade Fire, which has charred 16,000 acres, was first sparked, near Geyserville, officials with Pacific Gas & Electric, the state’s largest utility, told the Washington Post.
Although the company had already cut power in the area — a pre-emptive step as dangerous weather was on the horizon — stretches of the company’s high-voltage power transmission lines were still in operation, the company said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
The utility became aware of the transmission tower malfunction around at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, according to the report it filed with the California Public Utilities Commission.
The blaze broke out seven minutes later, according to Cal Fire.
The affected tower is 43 years old, which is “not an old tower,” and it had been inspected four times in the past two years, Pacific Gas & Electric chief executive Bill Johnson told the paper.
“It appeared to have been in excellent condition, recently inspected,” he said.
But more tests will be conducted on the state’s electric infrastructure over the next several days.
The company is investigating, but has not accepted responsibility for the blaze — and Johnson said officials are still probing exactly how it started, according to the report.
“We still, at this point, do not know what exactly happened,” the executive said.
As officials continued to battle the blaze Friday morning, eight other fires burned across the state, according to CNN.
One major blaze is the Tick Fire, which broke out Thursday afternoon in Southern California and charred nearly 4,000 acres (6¼ square miles) in a few hours. It was 5 percent contained by late Thursday and forced some 50,000 people to evacuate.
The Saddle Ridge Fire, Old Water Fire, Oak Fire and Palisades Fire also continue to burn in Southern California.
And the Cabrillo Fire, Nelson Fire and Muir Fire are burning through Northern California.
