In the summer of 2021, the Dixie fire burned over 1,300 houses and buildings in California. An investigation has now shown that the forest fire was triggered by a power line that came into contact with trees.
In the so-called Dixie fire, over 1,300 houses and buildings were burned in California in August 2021.
(dpa)
A huge forest fire in Northern California that destroyed nearly 3,900 square kilometers of land and more than 1,300 buildings last summer is said to have been triggered by a power line. Investigators from the CAL Fire agency announced the result of their investigation on Tuesday evening (local time), during which they investigated the cause of the so-called Dixie fire. According to this, a tree came into contact with power lines owned by the American energy supplier Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). The report was handed over to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, it said.
The flames raged from mid-July to October. It was the second largest fire in the history of California in terms of area. The fires destroyed, among other things, the former gold rush town of Greenville. Many thousands of people were at times on the run.
Allegations against PG&E because of poorly maintained power lines have risen again and again after numerous major fires in California in recent years. In 2020, the electricity supplier pleaded guilty to a devastating forest fire in the village of Paradise that left over 80 dead. More than 13,000 houses burned down there in November 2018. The so-called camp fire was attributed to defective power lines. Strong winds helped the flames to spread quickly. The group had to pay fines and compensation in the billions.