DWP Does Not Cut Power In Winds, SCE Does, Both Started Fires Last Week
Written by 991KBU on November 1, 2019
At the Getty Fire above Pacific Palisades .… just 7 miles east of Malibu’s eastern gate… 745 acres burned but forward progress stopped … and it’s now 52 percent contained.
10 homes destroyed.
15 others damaged.
The Getty Fire erupted in severe Santa Anas just 7 miles east of Malibu … and burned right at us.
It ignited when a tree blasted apart in the winds …. and a branch flew dow n a steep hill into L A Department of Water and Power power
The utility, officials said, does not shut off service to customers during a high-wind event, in part because the utility serves an urban area where the fire risk is lower and because firefighters can rapidly respond to any blaze.
DWP officials said there was no failure of electrical equipment and that utility crews had cleared the area of vegetation in July, as required by fire safety codes.
And they say turning off power in LA would cause a whole major set of problems.
Of course … that is also true in areas outside of L-A city limits …
But the state has a different policy for power companies outside L A city limits.
And despite extensive intentional power cuts across California … power lines are suspected in nearly half of the more than dozen fires that erupted around the state in the past month.
Both the Getty Fire in L-A … and the Easy Fire near the Reagan Library … broke out under power lines not far from where power had been cut.
84% of wildfires are caused by human activity.
But only 5 percent of those fires are caused by power line failures.
Data provided by Cal Fire shows fires started by power lines spiked from a five-year average of 296 … several years ago … to 408 in 201.
