Posted on 10/30/2019 7:13:37 AM PDT by IndispensableDestiny
That fire was caused when a dry branch from a eucalyptus tree was flung 30 feet (9 meters) by high winds into a city Department of Water and Power line, which short-circuited and sparked, the utility and Fire Department announced Tuesday.
The power line had been operating safely and the DWP had cut away brush and trees from around the line, officials said.
Mayor Eric Garcetti called it an “act of God.”
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
God's fault again.
I live in California, and they (PG&E hired contractors) have trimmed heavily in my rural-ish neighborhood in the past year.
They are just WAAAAY behind. Either California gov’t environmental regs prevented it, or PG&E tried to save money and not do it, or a combination of the two.
one correction
“and overheat causing fires”
The power lines do not “overheat”.
It is usually a wind caused tree or branch that causes a wire to get taken to the ground, and broken, where a spark on dry terrain causes a fire to start.
Wow!
“Cancel bullet train and taking care of illegals and bury the dam things.”
You’re too smart for California, you’d never get elected there.
“I hope every Californian gets the maximum misery and turmoil and pain”
That’s a horrible & dumb statement. Although they are a minority in California there are plenty of people there that did not elect the Democrats, but for a multitude of personal reasons still have to live there. I know; some are in my family. It’s bad enough that they have to suffer for what the Democrats have done, but why should we, who support them, wish them even worse pain. Makes no sense at all.
Real solutions, e.g. cut down the non native absurdly inflammable eucalyptus trees and don't whine about it. The chaparral is flammable enough already. I'll bet that firebreak was insufficient for this fire. But wherever there's chaparral there's going to be brushfire, that will burn without a man made ignition source, so if you have property in those hills you'd better be prepared.
At’s amazing how you can force a company in insolvency with nothing more than mandates and regulation.
California alone is responsible for this mess.
“All facetiousness aside, one real solution for this is actually pretty simple. All they have to do is allow the utilities to cut brush and trees away from power lines, something currently outlawed in CA.”
Wrong. It is not outlawed.
“They can, but they are much harder/more expensive to maintain. “
More expensive than the billions in lawsuits that bankrupted PG&E?
Right now they are in a damned if they do and damned if they don’t situation.
Had they not shut off power, they were to be sued for some wild fire. With power shut off they will be sued for damages and harm folks suffered for not having power.
The planting of non-native eucalyptus trees, shake roofs and refusal to remove dead trees is a sizable part of the problem.
Eucalyptus oil in the trees is highly flammable
“Either California gov’t environmental regs prevented it, or PG&E tried to save money and not do it, or a combination of the two.”
or PG&E spent $2 billion plus following the legal mandate in California for them to buy power from “renewable” sources when, if they needed extra power they could have gotten it much cheaper wholesale from the grid.
PG&E’s problem is they have dutifully done all the “green” stuff the state wanted them to do, as well as all the “diversity” stuff, “minority contractor” stuff, all the “gender equity” stuff and every other kind of progressive agenda the Dims are running. PG&E’s real problem is they have bent over backwards to be exactly the “progressive” corporation the Dims want. And the rate payers are paying for it.
The state is a mockery. It is an insane asylum of the privileged and the third world with the people with common sense overrun and left out. It’s the home of Free Republic and Devin Nunes, one of the nation’s finest congressmen.
I have no joy and pray for them. It makes me very sad.
“I hope every Californian gets the maximum misery and turmoil and pain...”
I understand your rage, but these are real human beings. Let’s be better than that.
And the politicians should let land owners do it.
California liberal voters: quit your crying. You voted yourselves into this mess, and you don’t have the courage to fight your way out of it. This is what you’re going to be doing now. Deal.
On the face of it, you’d have to cut growth beyond 30 feet.
Yes, they certainly can be buried. At a cost of tens of billions of dollars, and environmental impact studies lasting approximately 300-500 years. Not going to talk about the lawsuits.
can’t power lines go underground? i thought they could.
And this is not satire.
Did his face cringe when he said ‘act of God’.... and not climate change?
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