# How do the California fires start?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-california-fires-start/824372>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 11, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-california-fires-start/824372 "2018-11-11T22:43:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-california-fires-start/824372/81 "2019-01-14T20:32:39Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Embattled California utility PG&E announced Monday it plans to file for bankruptcy, seeking Chapter 11 protection amid billions of dollars in liability costs related to the company’s role in wildfires in 2017 and 2018, including last year’s deadly Camp Fire, which killed 86 people.
> 
> Word of the bankruptcy sent the San Francisco-based company’s stock price tumbling 50 percent Monday morning.

> **[PG&E to declare bankruptcy amid multibillion-dollar liability claims for...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pg-e-declare-bankruptcy-amid-multibillion-dollar-liability-claims-its-n958346)**
>
> "This is the biggest utility failure I’ve seen," said one analyst.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-the-california-fires-start/824372/82 "2019-02-28T06:05:16Z")

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Pennywise and pound foolish?

> [@](#):
>
> Pacific Gas and Electric Co. had proposed repairing electrical lines in the areas affected by the Camp Fire for years but kept delaying construction, officials said Wednesday.
> 
> A California Public Utilities Commission document says the Palermo-Rio Oso transmission system, which runs from Butte through Yuba and Sutter counties, is more than a century old.
> 
> PG&E had proposed as far back as 2013 to repair those lines but filed for delays from 2015 through 2017. The CPUC granted PG&E permission for construction in May 2018.
> 
> The repairs would have replaced existing conductors with new aluminum cabling, as well as modifying steel towers and replacing existing towers with steel poles.

> **[Officials: PG&E delayed plans to repair lines affected by Camp Fire](https://www.kcra.com/article/officials-pgande-delayed-plans-to-repair-lines-affected-by-camp-fire/26559266)**
>
> Pacific Gas & Electric Co. had proposed repairing electrical lines in the areas affected by the Camp Fire for years but kept delaying construction, officials said Wednesday.

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