REGION: State investigators blame SDG&E, Cox for fires
Report: Improper maintenance, not unusual winds, were root causes
By DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | ∞
A scathing report released late Tuesday blamed three of last fall's wildfires on San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Cox Communications, saying the companies violated state regulations by failing to properly maintain electric and cable television wires in areas where blazes started.
The investigation by the California Public Utilities Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division alleged the companies were out of compliance with state rules designed to ensure the safe operation of cables.
The 32-page report also alleged that SDG&E impeded investigators' fact-finding mission in the fires' aftermath.
The companies immediately denied the allegations.
After months of gathering evidence, investigators concluded SDG&E failed to keep 69-kilovolt wires a minimum of 2 feet apart on the Drown Ranch between Ramona and San Ysabel, where the Witch Creek fire erupted the morning of Oct. 21, and did not timely trim a sycamore tree next to a 12-kilovolt line where the Rice Canyon blaze broke out near Fallbrook the next day.
SDG&E disagreed.
"This report .... is full of speculation and faulty conclusions, with sparse evidence ---- if any ---- to support its claims," the company said, in a written statement. "For example, regarding the Witch fire, the CPUC's staff report supplies no facts to support claims that SDG&E's power lines were out of compliance."
Cox Communications also disputed the report's conclusion that its television cable in the San Pasqual Valley, where the Guejito fire broke out, was damaged before then.
"The conclusions ... are not supported by the evidence," the cable company stated. "As concluded in the CalFire report (released July 9), the evidence indicates that our line was fully intact prior to the extreme Santa Ana winds, which caused SDG&E's lines and our lines to come into contact."
According to the report, the Fallbrook-area sycamore that stood 80 feet tall had last been trimmed July 18, 2007, and was due to be trimmed again within three months ---- before the fires broke out ---- to keep limbs no more than 4 feet away from wires, as required.
SDG&E disagreed that a trimming was overdue and that limbs were closer to wires than they should have been.
"The staff report is wrong about this," the utility said.
The state report also took direct aim at a long-held position by the utility that the wildfires were a result of an unusually severe episode of hot, dry Santa Ana winds rather than a problem with power lines, in saying the gusts clocked last fall "were not uncommon for the area."
Weather observers recorded maximum wind speeds of 50 mph Oct. 21, 52 mph Oct. 22 and 50 mph Oct. 23 at nearby Valley Center, and a peak gust of 57 mph in Julian on Oct. 21, the report said. Those speeds are typical of Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert every year.
But SDG&E said the "conclusions that wind speeds were 'not uncommon' were based on weather data collected miles away from the claimed ignition points of the fires. The report completely disregards numerous eyewitness accounts that the winds approached hurricane-force strength."
Hurricane-force winds are defined as sustained winds of 74 mph or greater.
State investigators also determined that Cox Communications contributed to the Guejito fire, which combined with the explosive Witch Creek blaze to create the fourth-largest wildfire in California history. According to them, the company failed to adequately maintain its cables and inspect them regularly.
The cable television wire in question was installed in 2001 and never inspected before the Guejito fire began, the report states. Investigators said the television cable was broken when it slapped a 12-kilovolt SDG&E power line strung from the same poles, which were 887 feet apart.
The Guejito fire merged with the Witch Creek fire that ignited a few hours earlier to the east when arcing 69-kilovolt wires slapped against each other. The blazes combined to torch nearly 200,000 acres, en route to destroying 1,141 homes in Rancho Bernardo, Escondido and Poway, and killing two people.
Echoing the conclusions of a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire, report earlier this summer, the commission found that a falling rotten sycamore limb crashed into electric wires to spark the Rice Canyon fire.
Aside from their findings, investigators alleged that SDG&E impeded their investigation.
"SDG&E's unwillingness to provide immediate access to witnesses and evidence prevented ... (investigators) from conducting a more timely investigation," the report stated.
Mahmoud Intably, the agency's utilities engineer, stated that on Nov. 6 he was told by an SDG&E official he could not interview company employees until SDG&E finished its own internal investigation. And Intably reported that on a Nov. 9 visit to the Witch Creek ignition point an SDG&E representative refused to answer questions.
The company said it wasn't standing in the way of the investigation.
"When CPUC staff investigators first requested interviews in early November, all SDG&E field personnel were working around the clock to keep the lights on for customers," the utility stated.
The report also contains long-term implications.
Investigators reported discovering other broken Cox cables around San Diego County. "This may be a more widespread problem," they said.
They also raised the possibility that other electric wires are not spaced far enough apart to prevent arcing and more wildfires.
Investigators recommended that the state commission order SDG&E and Cox to conduct thorough systemwide inspections to look for inappropriately spaced wires and broken cables.
Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.
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Umm.. wrote on Sep 2, 2008 7:31 PM:Cox? How? CATV can start a fire?
Michael wrote on Sep 2, 2008 7:56 PM:Can we sue them now for causing damage to our vehicles due to all of the ash? I have a two year old auto that received extensive paint damage due to all of the ash in the air.
Ask wrote on Sep 2, 2008 8:49 PM:sweet, and our cable bill goes even higher....
and you shall receive wrote on Sep 3, 2008 12:13 AM:Hey "Ask," I'm really sorry that the destruction of 1,000 homes makes it more difficult to watch "American Idol." I'm going to just shut up and pay thousands of dollars for my deductible so you can save $5 a month, how's that?
Local wrote on Sep 3, 2008 4:36 AM:I got a tag on my gate that was purportedly from a business that wanted access tomy property to check utility poles. After several phone calls - no answer. Does anyone regulate who has access to utility poles? SDG&E and local Escondido police deny responsibility. This question is wide open. I don't trust anyone. And I'll keep my evidence od corruption until the time that it is needed.
To and you shall receive wrote on Sep 3, 2008 7:50 AM:I really don't think that 'Ask' was being flippant. I think what they really meant was now that Cox and SDG&E have been found at fault, their insurance companies will pay out, their premiums will raise, and our rates will raise, in order to pay for the lawsuits....so in essence, everyone WILL pay through higher rates, both through SDG&E and Cox. No offense intended. You definitely cannot compare the loss of home and life to raising utility rates, but again, you and I will ultimately pay for the cost of this disaster. You can bank on that.
Umm.. wrote on Sep 3, 2008 8:42 AM:Ya know.. if they have logs to back up readings on the Cox side of things, that can pretty much refute a broken line claim. If the cable TV transmission line is broken, then you know the phones gonna be ringing.
To To and you shall receive wrote on Sep 3, 2008 9:08 AM:Yeah, you're right. My apologies to "Ask" for my snide comment.
My more fundemental point is that all of this stuff costs money and that we as consumers have to bear some of the responsibility and cost without complaining. A company has to put up thousands of miles of cable for us to be able to have luxuries like 100 television channels. And it's expensive if the company does it right, for example by burying the cables or monitoring regularly. The company can save itself and its customers a little bit of money by cutting corners but only at the risk that a disaster will cause it and/or others to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to make things right again.
Old Time Family wrote on Sep 3, 2008 11:11 AM:Regardless of what started the fires,overhead lines, camp fire, smoker,ect,ect.There has always has been brush fires in so. cal, always will be.
Do you not feel an equal importance is for being prepared to put the fires out.
seems to me the proper time to stop a wild fire is before it starts.
I remember controled burnning during winter time for quick fire breaks.
When I was a child,I remember my father telling people not to build in many areas due to floods and fires. Father is long gone,such a tragedy he was correct so many times.
Talk to your fire dept. be prepared. It is just a matter of time Injoy your day
Figures wrote on Sep 3, 2008 12:19 PM:How about putting the blame where it belongs...CalFire and associated agencies. Slow response, not enough firefighters and to much bureaucracy. How many DC10's are still sitting at Pt Magoo waiting as they have been for years to be converted for fighting fires? How many extra fire fighters have been trained? The answers are the the same as they were before the fires started. All they can talk about is combining the fire agencies and raising taxes. This equates to less protection and less accountability. There will always be fires whether started by man or nature. The way they are responded to is what really matters. CalFire MANAGEMENT better take a hard look in the mirror!
oops wrote on Sep 3, 2008 1:47 PM:there goes our rates ^
To Figures wrote on Sep 3, 2008 5:27 PM:Sounds like you have a real problem with firefighting agencies. I'm sorry about that. My son is a 3rd generation firefighter in our family, and let me tell you something. As long as the bureaucrats up in Sacramento have control, there will NEVER be enough firefighters OR equipment to fight the wildfires like we've seen in recent years.
'Old Time Family', now THERE'S a true statement. Yes, there used to be controlled burns, but the bigwigs stopped that too, after the tree huggers whined that it was killing invaluable trees!
And let's lay some responsibility exactly where it belongs: to the irresponsible homeowners that don't cut their weeds or take proper precatuionary measures to ensure better safety during a firestorm. ANY firestorm is dangerous, but then you have the property that is surrounded by brush because someone didn't get the job done like they should have. The fire departments suggest at least 100 feet of defensible space, and the farther you can go, the better!
I have an 82 year old stepdad that goes out on his riding mower every few weeks and mows, because it's the right and SAFE thing to do.
Figures, PLEASE don't blame the men and women on the front line. They're risking their lives to save YOUR life and YOUR property.
Did you know that CalFire has a 1 minute response time during the daytime, and a 3 minute response time during the midnight hours? I know that. My son is with CalFire, and my daughter is a dispatcher, with CalFire as well, so please, don't write a bunch of critical stuff about these people. They take pride in their jobs. There's nothing MORE satisfying than hearing your children recount stories where they helped saved someone's life or home.
Comments like the ones you make just shoot morale down, and trust me, right now that's the last thing ANY firefighting agency needs.
Have a good evening~
blame wrote on Sep 3, 2008 7:51 PM:The blame belongs on SDG&E. They were given 84 million dollars of taxpayer money specifically to clear brush from power lines. They opted to pocket it and do nothing. They also made an engineering decision in the construction of power lines that arc in high wind; a decision probably based on cost per mile rather than safety. Sure fires happen of other causes, but these were SDG&E's doing and they should be held to account.
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