How to resolve AdBlock issue? The fire was first dispatched shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of John Kincade Road and Burned Mountain Road in The Geysers geothermal steamfield.
On Thursday afternoon, PG&E said that it filed an electric incident report with the California Public Utilities Commission due to the discovery of a failed transmission line in the fire area.
At 3 p.m. Wednesday, PG&E had begun a public safety power shutoff covering portions of the North Bay including Lake and Sonoma in response to a red flag warning for heavy winds, as Lake County News has reported.
As part of that shutoff, PG&E said it turned off the power for safety to approximately 27,837 customers in Sonoma County, including Geyserville and the surrounding area.
PG&E said it deenergized power distribution lines in those areas; however, based on its protocols and procedures, the transmission lines in the same areas remained energized because the forecast weather conditions, specifically the wind speeds, didn’t meet the protocol.
Company Chief Executive Officer and President Bill Johnson explained in a Thursday evening briefing with reporters that protocols for shutoffs – which are based on years of data – call for sustained wind speeds of 45 miles per hour to shut off distribution lines and 55 miles per hour for transmission lines.
PG&E’s report to the CPUC said that at approximately 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, it became aware of a transmission-level outage on the Geysers No. 9 Lakeville 230kV line when the line relayed and did not reclose, deenergizing the line.
Firefighters would be dispatched about 10 minutes later, finding the fire had already burned a few hundred acres and was being pushed by high winds, Cal Fire Incident Commander Chief Mike Parkes of the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said in a Thursday night briefing.
By Thursday morning, Cal Fire said the fire had burned 10,000 acres.
At approximately 7:30 a.m. Thursday, a responding PG&E troubleman patrolling the Geysers No. 9 Lakeville 230 kV line observed that Cal Fire had taped off the area around the base of transmission tower 001/006 in the area of the Kincade fire, PG&E said.
Johnson said the 43-year-old tower had been inspected four times in the last two years. “It appears to have been in excellent condition, recently inspected.”
PG&E said the transmission tower was inspected earlier this year as part of PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Inspection Program.
On site Cal Fire personnel brought to the troubleman’s attention what appeared to be a broken jumper on the same tower, PG&E said.
Mark Quinlan, PG&E’s senior director of emergency preparedness and response, said the company is coordinating with Cal Fire on the event, and has had a management team working with Cal Fire since Wednesday night.
Johnson said that PG&E and Cal Fire are continuing to investigate the transmission tower failure.
He said that filing the report with the CPUC does not explain where or why the fire started, conclusions that he said, ultimately, will rest with Cal Fire.
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