Chapter one: THE RUN TO FAILURE POLICY
The severely worn parts found in the Bay Area showed the same kind of wear that caused a power line to fall in Butte County, sparking the 2018 Camp Fire.
The Camp Fire was sparked by PG&E’s Caribou-Palermo transmission line, which was even older than the line was originally identified as in PG&E’s lab report. Built in 1921, the line was 97 years old when it failed.
Credit: SOURCE: PG&E
These photos taken by PG&E and obtained by ABC10 show other severely worn hooks and their hanger plates from along the Caribou-Palermo transmission line. A broken hook on the line sparked the fire and PG&E crews were allowed to collect evidence in the criminal case against the company because no qualified contractors would do the work for prosecutors. An internal PG&E lab report also obtained by ABC10 showed PG&E knew parts showed this extent of wear on older transmission lines as early as seven months before the Camp Fire sparked.
Some PG&E fire victims in a race against time to get paid [San Francisco Chronicle]
Feb. 1 Janet Ames was a California disaster survivor two times over. She held firm as the earth shook violently beneath her in 1989 and drove through a whirlwind of flames in 2018. Both catastrophes changed the course of her life, and the second may have cut it short.
Nearly three decades after surviving the Loma Prieta earthquake, Ames narrowly escaped the historically ruinous Camp Fire as it laid waste to the Butte County town of Paradise. Though she emerged without any grave physical injuries, the omnipresent smoke caused her preexisting respiratory problems to worsen, according to her family.
Some PG&E fire survivors in a race against time to get paid
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Sharron Ames visits the former home in Paradise (Butte County) of her mother, who survived the Camp Fire but died before a settlement.Scott Strazzante / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
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Janet Ames in her 50s with her son Robert’s wife, Cindy; her granddaughter Erin Ames; and son Peter Ames. She died last year at 85.Courtesy Ames familyShow MoreShow Less
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Sharron Ames wipes away a tear while visiting Sherwood Forest Trailer Park in Paradise.Scott Strazzante / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
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Janet Ames’ trailer was damaged during the Camp Fire, and her family says it required $36,000 in repairs.Courtesy Sharron AmesShow MoreShow Less
Dive Brief:
The California Public Utilities Commission s (CPUC) wildfire safety division last week issued a 2020 safety certification for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), despite raising multiple concerns about the utility s operations and fire mitigation processes.
These concerns include problems identified during field inspections, reports from PG&E s court-appointed federal monitor, as well as the investigation into the utility s potential role in sparking last September s Zogg Fire, which led to four fatalities and destroyed 204 structures.
The safety certification, which is valid for 12 months, provides utilities with an easier burden of proof test to recover costs related to catastrophic wildfires from the state s wildfire insurance fund, created in 2019 by Assembly Bill 1054.