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Fault lines
Fault lines
Bill Hocker | Oct 12, 2017 on: After The Fire
Steve Schneider sends this post:
I will probably end up in the minority opinion on this but PG&E has a lot more potential hazards to deal with than it humanly possible to control, especially given the unwillingness of rate payers to fund the enormous infrastructure costs to build a fail safe system. Every power line in the state has trees growing around it. Pruning them all or cutting them all down is not an option. And even if they did an earthquake might knock them down. I would like to see all the lines underground, but in our neighborhood you can't find anyone willing to spend several thousand dollars each to make it happen. Even that amount of money probably doesn't come close to the actual cost of under-grounding. I think that PG&E does a good job given the amounts of money we are willing to pay. In certain situations they may be negligent, but not making every line in their territory wind and tree-proofed is not negligence
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Steve Schneider sends this post:
It is hard to believe that this tragedy keeps on burning. Our hearts continue to go out to all of you.
Perhaps you may be able to recover some from PG&E?
I don’t know if you saw this news but it appears that the cause of the fire may have been downed power lines or blown transformers.
If PG&E was negligent, like they were in the San Bruno gas explosion disaster, all affected may be able to recover - your group may have another cause to promote, this time with attorneys who undoubtedly would take it on on contingency so you don’t have to pay them upfront.
Just a thought, trying to be helpful.
SF Business Times 10/12/17: PG&E power lines may have provided key spark to North Bay inferno
Perhaps you may be able to recover some from PG&E?
I don’t know if you saw this news but it appears that the cause of the fire may have been downed power lines or blown transformers.
If PG&E was negligent, like they were in the San Bruno gas explosion disaster, all affected may be able to recover - your group may have another cause to promote, this time with attorneys who undoubtedly would take it on on contingency so you don’t have to pay them upfront.
Just a thought, trying to be helpful.
SF Business Times 10/12/17: PG&E power lines may have provided key spark to North Bay inferno
I will probably end up in the minority opinion on this but PG&E has a lot more potential hazards to deal with than it humanly possible to control, especially given the unwillingness of rate payers to fund the enormous infrastructure costs to build a fail safe system. Every power line in the state has trees growing around it. Pruning them all or cutting them all down is not an option. And even if they did an earthquake might knock them down. I would like to see all the lines underground, but in our neighborhood you can't find anyone willing to spend several thousand dollars each to make it happen. Even that amount of money probably doesn't come close to the actual cost of under-grounding. I think that PG&E does a good job given the amounts of money we are willing to pay. In certain situations they may be negligent, but not making every line in their territory wind and tree-proofed is not negligence
Comments
| Shelle Wolfe - Oct 17, 2017 11:45PM I agree Bill... Thanks :) |
| Bill Hocker - Oct 12, 2017 3:04PM Roland Dumas writes: Be careful about making causal attributions at this stage. PG&E may not be the most responsible player, but not enough information to know if a fire took out power or power malfunction caused fire. With many fires, there may be common cause, independent, chain reaction, etc. We could have an arsonist(s), which is not a remote possibility. The fires will have an environmental impact, to be sure. While we are waiting for the forensics, we can start contemplating the larger impact, and the impact on the various initiatives. Saving a watershed that just burned down will take some re-thinking. Saving Skyline park from development may be a different game. We have some thinking and re-strategizing to do. The preservationist community really needs to begin thinking about the new world order in the county that will come from developers wanting to take advantage of every square inch of newly cleared land and of a county desperate for development fees and growth to the economy to offset the loss of tourism money, and the desire to give any concession to get the tourism industry back on track. The vineyard development industry is also newly empowered. Unfortunately, It's just been proven that the carbon sequestered in forests is much more volatile and less justifiable than that sequestered in vines. |
| George Caloyannidis - Oct 12, 2017 2:57PM Dear Friends and Supervisors; I heard a man who lived on Atlas Peak being interviewed some days ago who said that he experienced a momentary power outage. The power came back and then went out. Immediately thereafter the fires began. There is no doubt in my mind that at least this particular fire was caused by PG&E failure to maintain power lines, power poles and surrounding trees. The situation on Diamond Mountain Road where we live is equally dismal. Crooked power poles, sagging powers lines - some not being repaired after repeated requests and hundreds of trees threatening power lines. They need to be removed for obvious safety reasons. About 6 months ago, a large oak tree branch fell and snapped a power line about 200 feet from the intersection to Hwy 29. We were lucky at that time. To this day, a Comcast cable has been dragged down to the ground by a falling tree for at least 3 months now but has not severed. It is still in this condition and it is dragging the two anchor PG&E power poles in tension and despite notices, no one has cared to repair it. It is a new disaster waiting to happen. The PG@E electrical infrastructure in the mountains is that of a 3rd world country. I am sure when the dust settles, we will find that they are the culprit of at least the Atlas Peak fire. |