Why did the power company lie and say they had the power off?
Someone isn’t being truthful.
The power company is irrelevant and the convenient whipping boy.
The initial fire (in the morning) was sparked by downed lines. That fire was 100% contained. The fire fighters left, and a flareup started that afternoon. The power company was repairing the lines, with the power off, when the flareup occurred.
That is what I read about from a couple of different sources.