It鈥檚 the latest in a string of devastating wildfires allegedly caused by the utility鈥檚 equipment
The Dixie Fire started on July 13, 2021, and grew to the second-largest fire in state history, burning over 960,000 acres and destroying over 1,300 structures. It decimated the rural town of Greenville and damaged other communities in Plumas, Butte, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama counties. It was the first known fire to burn clear across the Sierra Nevada mountain range, followed later in the year by the Caldor Fire.
The fire caused severe damage to forestland and forced thousands of people to evacuate.
The announcement is not a total surprise. In July, PG&E to the California Public Utilities Commission that its equipment may have caused the Dixie Fire. One of the utility鈥檚 employees responded to a power outage reported at Cresta Dam and found blown fuses and a tree leaning into PG&E equipment, with fire burning at the tree鈥檚 base.
At the time, Cal Fire investigators took several pieces of PG&E equipment.
Last year, Cal Fire investigators concluded the utility started the Zogg Fire, which burned 56,000 acres and killed four people. The Shasta County District Attorney鈥檚 Office the utility with manslaughter and other crimes in September.
In 2018, PG&E鈥檚 equipment started the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County. The fire leveled the town of Paradise and killed 85 people. PG&E later . In the following months, the company sought bankruptcy protection as it faced tens of billions of dollars in potential liability for wildfires it caused.
Many survivors of wildfires caused by PG&E have had promised by the utility.
In April, the California Public Utilities Commission 鈥渆nhanced oversight鈥� on PG&E after the company failed to remove and trim trees from its riskiest power lines.
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