NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Cal Fire said Wednesday that its investigators have determined that November’s Camp fire – which devastated the town of Paradise in Butte County, killing dozens of people and destroying thousands of structures – was caused by power transmission lines.

The Camp fire started the morning of Nov. 8 and burned a total of 153,336 acres, destroying 18,804 structures and resulting in 85 civilian fatalities and several firefighter injuries.

It is the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history.

Cal Fire said its investigators were immediately dispatched to the Camp fire and began working to determine the origin and cause of the fire.

After a very meticulous and thorough investigation, Cal Fire said it has determined that the Camp fire was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric.

Cal Fire said the fire started in the early morning hours near the community of Pulga in Butte County.

The tinder dry vegetation and red flag conditions consisting of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures promoted this fire and caused extreme rates of spread, rapidly burning into Pulga to the east and west into Concow, Paradise, Magalia and the outskirts of east Chico, Cal Fire said.

The investigation identified a second ignition sight near the intersection of Concow Road and Rim Road. Cal Fire said the cause of the second fire was determined to be vegetation into electrical distribution lines owned and operated by PG&E. This fire was consumed by the original fire which started earlier near Pulga.

During 2018 there were more than 7,571 wildfires that burned more than 1.8 million acres within the state of California, Cal Fire said. Nearly a third of that acreage was burned in the Mendocino Complex, which burned in Lake, Mendocino, Colusa and Glenn counties.

Cal Fire said the Camp fire investigative report has been forwarded to the Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

PG&E’s equipment also has been identified as the source of numerous other fires around Northern California, including the Sulphur fire that burned in Clearlake and Clearlake Oaks in October 2017.

A number of local governments, including the city of Clearlake and the county of Lake, have filed suit against PG&E over those fires, but PG&E has since filed bankruptcy, which makes the future of those suits unclear.