While the cause of the deadly and destructive wildfire burning in Butte County has not been determined, PG&E says it experienced an outage minutes before the blaze ignited.In a report to the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E said a transmission line in Butte County experienced an outage at 6:15 a.m.“In the afternoon of November 8, PG&E observed by aerial patrol damage to a transmission tower on the Caribou-Palermo 115 kV Transmission line, approximately one mile north-east of the town of Pulga, in the area of the Camp Fire. This information is preliminary,” the utility said in the report.The wildfire, named the Camp Fire, ignited around 6:30 a.m. Thursday in the Camp Creek Road area near Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon. The location is near the town of Pulga.“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and the communities we serve,” PG&E said in a statement. “PG&E has provided an initial electric incident report to the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The information provided in this report is preliminary and PG&E will fully cooperate with any investigations.”Cal Fire has not determined a cause of the Camp Fire.Butte County dispatch recordings from the start of the fire mention the PG&E transmission line.“Jarbo Gap. Vegetation under the high-tension power lines,” a dispatcher reports in the recording. “Looking across, under the high-tension power liners, there’s a possible power line hazard.”Within minutes, firefighters arrived at the scene.“Eyes on the vegetation fire. It's going to be very difficult to access,” a firefighter says in the recording. “Camp Creek Road is nearly inaccessible. It is on the west side of the river, underneath the transmission lines. Got about a 35 mile-per-hour sustained wind on it.”As the winds howled, crews called for backup. One firefighter made this prediction:“This has got the potential for a major incident.”

While the cause of the deadly and destructive wildfire burning in Butte County has not been determined, PG&E says it experienced an outage minutes before the blaze ignited.

In a report to the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission, PG&E said a transmission line in Butte County experienced an outage at 6:15 a.m.


“In the afternoon of November 8, PG&E observed by aerial patrol damage to a transmission tower on the Caribou-Palermo 115 kV Transmission line, approximately one mile north-east of the town of Pulga, in the area of the Camp Fire. This information is preliminary,” the utility said in the report.

The wildfire, named the Camp Fire, ignited around 6:30 a.m. Thursday in the Camp Creek Road area near Highway 70 in the Feather River Canyon. The location is near the town of Pulga.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and the communities we serve,” PG&E said in a statement. “PG&E has provided an initial electric incident report to the Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The information provided in this report is preliminary and PG&E will fully cooperate with any investigations.”

Cal Fire has not determined a cause of the Camp Fire.

Butte County dispatch recordings from the start of the fire mention the PG&E transmission line.

“Jarbo Gap. Vegetation under the high-tension power lines,” a dispatcher reports in the recording. “Looking across, under the high-tension power liners, there’s a possible power line hazard.”

Within minutes, firefighters arrived at the scene.

“Eyes on the vegetation fire. It's going to be very difficult to access,” a firefighter says in the recording. “Camp Creek Road is nearly inaccessible. It is on the west side of the river, underneath the transmission lines. Got about a 35 mile-per-hour sustained wind on it.”

As the winds howled, crews called for backup. One firefighter made this prediction:

“This has got the potential for a major incident.”