PG&E Equipment Investigated in Deadly Zogg Fire

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials seized and are examining some Pacific Gas & Electric company equipment that might have played a role in starting the deadly Zogg Fire last month causing California wildfire damage and several fatalities. The department, better known as Cal Fire, has not released any information yet about the cause of the fire, but in a mandatory filing made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, PG&E disclosed its equipment is being investigated.

The utility company also reported that alarms were triggered and “other activity” recorded on one of its SmartMeters and another piece of equipment on a power line at the Girvan 1101 circuit in the vicinity of the fire between 2:40 and 3:06 p.m. on Sept. 27.

The Progression of the Zogg Fire

The Zogg Fire began on that day in the area of Zogg Mine Road and Jenny Bird Lane, north of Igo in Shasta County.

“Wildfire camera and satellite data on September 27, 2020 show smoke, heat or signs of fire in that area between approximately 2:43 p.m. and 2:46 p.m.,” the PG&E filing says.

On Oct. 9, “Cal Fire informed PG&E that they had taken possession of PG&E equipment as part of CAL FIRE’s ongoing investigation into the cause of the Zogg Fire and allowed PG&E access to the area,” the utility’s disclosure says.

“The Zogg Fire went from 400 acres to 7000 acres in a matter of hours, prompting mandatory evacuations in the region,” according to a report by the local news broadcasting station KRON4.

The Deadly Outcome of the Zogg Fire

So far, the Zogg Fire has been active for 15 days, has killed four people and injured at least one other. Three of the victims were found dead by first responders. The fourth was badly burned the day the fire started and was taken to a hospital for treatment. He died there two days later, according to a report by the local CBS news station.

According to Cal Fire, Zogg has also destroyed 204 structures and damaged 27 others and consumed more than 56,338 acres in Northern California. It burned nearly unchecked for days due to strong northerly winds – with gusts as high as 46 mph, the National Weather Service reported – and extremely hot and dry conditions.

As of Oct. 13, the Zogg Fire was 99% contained, Cal Fire’s website said.

Evacuations, which had affected an estimated 1,200 residents, were fully lifted Oct. 9, KRCR news, the local ABC news affiliate, reported.

History of PG&E and WildFires

If the PG&E equipment was responsible for starting the Zogg Fire, it wouldn’t be the first time. Throughout the last decade, PG&E equipment caused a fatal gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people and sparked numerous wildfires.

In June, PG&E CEO Bill Johnson pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter related to the 2018 Camp Fire, one of the deadliest in recent California history. The nation’s largest utility was accused of putting profits before safety to the extent that its outdated power lines killed its customers and reduced nearly the entire town of Paradise to an ash heap.

The grand jury report on the fire, issued just after Johnson’s court appearance, said PG&E showed a “callous disregard” for public safety by failing to act on dire warnings about the risks posed by its aging power grid and refusing to learn from past mistakes, which also caused fires.

“Through a corporate culture of elevating profits over safety by taking shortcuts in the safe delivery of an extremely dangerous product – high-voltage electricity – PG&E certainly led otherwise good people down an ultimately destructive path,” USA Today quoted the report as saying.

In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, PG&E said it had been working to replace old power poles with newer, stronger ones, to bury more electrical lines, to clear brush from the areas around its equipment and had increased the “use of fire-monitoring technology,” USA Today said.

In the boardroom, PG&E replaced 11 of its 14 board members and Johnson resigned.

PG&E Financial Condition

Financially, PG&E is reportedly in the final stages of hashing out $25.5 billion in settlements in the Camp Fire case and other fatal and damaging fires it has been found responsible for in 2017 and 2018 – fires that claimed a total of 100 lives and billions in property damage, the Associated Press reported.

The utility filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2019 and the financial reorganization was deemed complete in July 2020. It was the second time in the last 16 years PG&E went through bankruptcy. “The last time the company emerged from bankruptcy, in 2004, electricity rates soared and management focused even more on boosting profits instead of upgrading its power supply,” the Associated Press reported earlier this year.

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