#California fire series#

In early September 2020, a combination of a record-breaking heat wave and strong katabatic winds, (including the Jarbo, Diablo, and Santa Ana) caused explosive fire growth. On August 22, then-President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration (DR-4558), which provides Individual Assistance and/or Public Assistance. Response and evacuations were complicated by a historic heatwave and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On August 18, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, and on August 19, 2020, reported that the state was battling 367 known fires, many sparked by intense thunderstorms on August 16вЂ“17 caused by moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fausto. The intensity of the fire season has been attributed to a combination of more than a century of poor forest management and higher temperatures resulting from climate change. The fires destroyed over 10,000 structures and cost over $12.079 billion (2020 USD) in damages, including over $10 billion in property damage and $2.079 billion in fire suppression costs. California's August Complex fire has been described as the first 'gigafire', burning over 1 million acres across seven counties, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. By the end of the year, 9,917 fires had burned 4,397,809 acres (1,779,730В ha), more than 4% of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history (according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), though roughly equivalent to the pre-1800 levels which averaged around 4.4 million acres yearly and up to 12 million in peak years. The 2020 California wildfire season, part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season, was a record-setting year of wildfires in California. The blaze was caused by a tree hitting electrical distribution lines west of a dam in the Sierra Nevada, where the blaze began on July 13, Cal Fire investigators said.An Augsatellite image of the wildfires burning in Northern California, covering a significant portion of California and nearby states. The Dixie Fire in Northern California swept through five counties and burned more than 1,300 homes and other buildings. By the time a PG&E worker arrived at the scene вЂњthe fire was too large for him to contain and a 911 response was requested,вЂќ state investigators wrote in the report the utility made public Thursday.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention said in their final report on the Dixie Fire, the second-largest in California recorded history, that the utility failed to act quickly after one of its power lines malfunctioned last July, sparking the blaze.

#California fire series#

PG&E, which has an estimated 16 million customers in central and Northern California, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 after its aging equipment was blamed for a series of fires, including the 2018 Camp Fire that killed 85 people and destroyed 10,000 homes in Paradise and neighboring communities. They also include felony arson counts linked to several fires started by the utilityвЂ™s equipment in Shasta County over the last year. The charges PG&E faces include enhancements for injury to a 29-year-old firefighter who was hit by a falling tree that fractured his spine, paralyzing him from the chest down. вЂњWe accept CAL FIREвЂ™s finding that a tree falling into our equipment started the fire, but we do not believe there was any criminal activity.вЂќ вЂњToday we entered a formal not guilty plea to all charges in the 2020 Zogg Fire in Shasta County,вЂќ the company said in a statement. The district attorney determined that the company was criminally liable for the fire and charged the utility last September. The utility says the tree was subsequently cleared to stay. They say PG&E failed to remove the tree even though it had been marked for removal two years earlier. Shasta and Tehama counties have sued the utility, alleging negligence. Last year, state fire investigators concluded the fire was sparked by a gray pine tree that fell onto a PG&E distribution line. 27, 2020, and raged through rugged terrain and small communities west of Redding, killing four people, burning about 200 homes and blackening about 87 square miles (225 square kilometers) of land. A preliminary hearing in the case was set for January.

PG&E was arraigned at a court in Redding on 31 criminal counts and enhancements, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, after being accused of recklessly starting the Zogg Fire, the Shasta County District AttorneyвЂ™s Office said in a brief statement. (AP) - Pacific Gas & Electric on Thursday pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges it faces after its equipment sparked a wildfire that killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes in Northern California two years ago, prosecutors announced.