Uh Oh SDGE part Deux

Previously on Uh Oh SDG&E: The California State Fire Agency blamed sparking power lines for the start of some wildfires in San Diego. Lawsuits were explored. Reader Owen B wrote an interesting comment in response to the news. We waited...

And now the North County Times explores the (possible) fallout from the revelations. Who is to blame?

As tempting as it is to assign blame, a spark is just one factor in any fire. Without hurricane-strength Santa Ana winds, the fire would never have spread at the speed it did. Combined with drought conditions and high temperatures, a brush fire that would normally only burn a few acres became a wildfire that burned a whole county. Those factors are beyond the control of SDG&E.That's not to say there aren't things that SDG&E should do to improve its fire prevention efforts. Although an expensive option, putting power lines underground may make sense in some areas. The utility could also start switching out old wood utility poles with steel ones. This is already being done as the utility replaces poles destroyed by the most recent fires.SDG&E should also start sharing an extensive database it uses to keep tabs on 386,000 trees (adjacent to its 18,000 miles of powerlines) with CalFire and other authorities. This was something recommended six years ago, but CalFire claims it doesn't have access to that information.

Or we can just listen to My San Diego reader OwenB: When wind velocity reaches a certain degree where power lines become endangered from falling trees the power company has the ability to turn off the power to specifically targeted areas by simply turning a switch in their control center. The same switch cam turn the power back on. Prior to restoring power the company has the ability to test the line for falling trees easily and quickly from the same switching stations.

Preach it, teach it...