Victims of the McKinney Fire that destroyed homes and killed four people in Siskiyou County have sued the Oregon-based utility company providing power in far Northern California, claiming PacifiCorp powerlines sparked the fire.

While fire investigators with the United States Forest Service remain tight-lipped about what caused the blaze, the lawsuit argues power equipment is to blame. The fire ignited July 29 at a time of dangerous fire weather in a rural area by McKinney Creek near Klamath River, an unincorporated community on Highway 96 in Siskiyou County.

Tom Gauntt, a spokesperson for PacifiCorp, declined to answer questions about the McKinney Fire and said the lawsuit prevented the company from discussing the matter.

PacifiCorp, which operates as Pacific Power in California, filed a report with the California Public Utilities Commission six days after the fire started, alerting regulators that its equipment was in the area of ​​a fire. The company did not report any problems with its equipment to state regulators. Drew Hanson, another spokesman for PacifiCorp, told the Chronicle on Aug. 3 that “we are not aware of any equipment being collected for an investigation related to the McKinney Fire.”

Attorney Gerald Singleton said his firm’s investigator reported that overhead power lines were the only human infrastructure in the remote forested area where the fire started — no roads, structures or campsites. His San Diego-based firm, Singleton Schreiber, is representing about 25 property owners with losses from the fire.

“There’s nothing anyone has seen that would lead us to believe that the McKinney Fire started with anything other than power lines,” Singleton said.

A 911 caller reported the first flames of the McKinney Fire just before 2:15 pm on July 29. Emergency dispatch audio from some of the first fire units on scene describe the early flames. “About a quarter acre …. right now putting water on it … it is underneath the power line right-of-way,” a firefighter reported over the radio at about 2:30 pm

Singleton said his firm’s investigator was informed that the Forest Service collected power equipment from the origin site as evidence. He said they will request access to inspect the equipment in the course of civil litigation proceedings.

Adrienne Freeman, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, said the agency’s investigators were still determining how the fire started and were working with assistance from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. Freeman declined to say whether any power equipment had been collected as potential evidence.

The lawsuit alleges PacifiCorp was negligent in its maintenance, operation and inspection of its power lines and names another 2020 wildfire in California that spurred a lawsuit blaming PacifiCorp for the destruction: the Slater Fire that burned 157,229 acres and killed two people in the Klamath National Forest . The cause of that fire is still under investigation. PacifiCorp did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Slater Fire.

The McKinney Fire has burned 60,392 acres and is 95% contained. The blaze destroyed at least 196 structures. Those killed include longtime US Forest Service fire lookout Kathy Shoopman.

Julie Johnson (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: julie.johnson@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @juliejohnson

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AMERICAN CANYON (CBS SF / KPIX) – Napa County authorities said Monday night a burning, stolen car may have ignited fast-moving vegetation in the American Canyon. The police arrested the driver.

The so-called Newell Fire burned east of Newell Drive, north of American Canyon Road near two local schools.

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The fire was first reported around 6:30 p.m. and quickly grew to 150 acres. At around 10 p.m., Cal Fire said that progress had stopped and that the fire was 50% contained. The fire brigade watched the gusts of wind throughout the night.

According to the Napa County Sheriff, Oscar Ortiz, 26, is on remand. He was found in the hills with burns on his body next to the burning car.

“When the officers responded to the fire and arrived on site, they found a burning car where a car shouldn’t be in a stream area,” said Sheriff Ortiz.

He also confirms that the car was stolen from Vallejo.

Napa County Sheriff Oscar Ortiz told us tonight that his deputies found a burning car near the source of the fire. The driver of the car was also burned. Sheriff says it was a stolen car. #NewellFire

– Andrea Nakano (@AndreaKPIX) October 12, 2021

#NewellFire – UPDATE – Fire is approximately 150 acres and is 50% contained. Forward progress has stopped. When driving in the area, be careful and avoid emergency vehicles.
# CALFIRE # CALFIRELNU

– CAL FIRE LNU (@CALFIRELNU) October 12, 2021

At around 8:35 p.m., Cal Fire confirmed that the fire had stopped from progressing to approximately 150 acres. The evacuation warning was lifted.

Cal Fire is investigating the possibility that the burning car started the fire. Local residents watched the flames spread rapidly on a hill just across from their homes.

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“Everyone was kind of nervous,” said Rob Sloan, a resident. “We live down the street, this is the family home here and we came to be with everyone until the evacuation order was lifted.”

The evacuation warning was issued around 7 p.m. to residents east of Broadway Street / Highway 29. American Canyon Road has been closed because of the fire, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.

#NewellFire – CAL FIRE The Sonoma Lake Napa unit responds to a vegetation fire near the 4000 block of Newell Dr, Greenwood Ranch. When traveling in the area, please be careful and give emergency vehicles right of way. # CALFIRE # CALFIRELNU pic.twitter.com/RZJWZyvSZ4

– CAL FIRE LNU (@CALFIRELNU) October 12, 2021

The smoke from the fire could be observed for miles. Residents up to Berkeley reported smelling the smoke.

Travelers in the area were advised to exercise caution. Contra Costa Fire and other Bay Area fire departments are providing mutual assistance to prevent the fire from spiraling out of control under the terms of the red flag warning.

#NewellFire in #AmericanCanyon

: Emma Trotter pic.twitter.com/XSpsjj1dpt

– Steve Trotter (@sirtrotsalots) October 12, 2021

#NewellFire – UPDATE – Fire is approximately 150 acres and is 50% contained. Forward progress has stopped. When driving in the area, be careful and avoid emergency vehicles.
# CALFIRE # CALFIRELNU

– CAL FIRE LNU (@CALFIRELNU) October 12, 2021

“American Canyon Fire is fighting a fast-moving forest fire,” tweeted fire officers in Crockett / Carquinez. “Expect smoke in Crockett.”

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Andrea Nakano contributed to this report.

The post Burning, Stolen Automotive Could Have Sparked Newell Fireplace In Napa County; Driver Arrested – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

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Edison, of Southern California, said his equipment may have sparked rapid wildfire, forcing evacuation orders for around 100,000 people and seriously injuring two firefighters on Monday as high winds across the state resulted in power cuts being reduced to hundreds of thousands around such a possibility to prevent .

A smoky fire exploded over 29 square kilometers after it broke out at dawn in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. Gusts pushed flames along the ridges of the bush in Silverado Canyon and near homes in the sprawling city of Irvine, home to around 280,000 people. There was no containment.

Two firefighters, one 26 and the other 31 years old, were seriously injured while fighting the fire, according to the district fire department, which did not provide details of the occurrence of the injuries. They suffered second and third degree burns on large parts of their bodies and were intubated in a hospital, officials said.

In a report to the State Public Utilities Commission, Edison of southern California said she was investigating whether her electrical equipment caused the fire. The brief report states that a “lashing wire” connecting a telecommunications line to a support cable may have struck a 12,000-volt power line across it, and an investigation was ongoing.

The report came when SCE shut down around 38,000 households and businesses in five counties – including the fire areas – as a security measure against gusts that knocked down equipment or threw branches or other vegetation into power lines. However, the utility had reduced this to below 16,500 as the winds temporarily eased on Monday evening.

More than 90,000 people in the fire area were under evacuation orders. Nearby, a fire in the Yorba Linda area had grown to nearly 12.2 square kilometers and triggered the evacuation of at least 10,000 people.

During the fire in the Irvine area, Kelsey Brewer and her three roommates decided to leave their townhouse before the evacuation order was received. The question was where to go in the pandemic. They opted for the house of her friend’s mother, who has plenty of space and lives alone.

“We literally talked about it this morning,” Brewer said, adding that she is fortunate to have a safe place. “We can only imagine how crazy everyone else feels. You can’t feel safe anywhere. “

Helicopters that dropped water and fire retardants were grounded for most of the afternoon because high winds made flying unsafe. However, a large air tanker and other planes began to fall again a few hours before sunset.

In the northern part of the state, Pacific Gas & Electric began re-energizing some of the 350,000 customers – an estimated 1 million people – in 34 counties that were left behind on Dark Sunday due to some of the fiercest winds of the fire season.

PG&E said electricity was restored to nearly 100,000 customers as the winds subsided in some areas and electricity returned to the other homes and buildings by Tuesday evening after crews conducted air and ground inspections to make repairs and ensure safety.

A dozen damage reports have been received, said PG & E.

In many parts of PG & E’s huge service area, however, the fire hazard was far from over.

“We’re already seeing the winds picking up again,” said Scott Strenfel, head of meteorology at PG&E, in some regions with bone-dry humidity that created extreme fire hazards Monday night.

Winds were expected to calm down on Monday evening before renewing on Tuesday, the National Meteorological Service warned. Officials extended a red flag extreme fire hazard warning to the region’s eastern and northern mountain areas until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday.

The safety shutdowns likely prevented dangerous fires last night. It is almost impossible to imagine that winds of this magnitude have not started major fires in the past few years, ”Daniel Swain, climate researcher at UCLA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said on Twitter.

A second round of gusts is expected to sweep through the same areas on Monday evening.

Scientists have said that climate change has made California much drier, which means trees and other plants are more flammable. October and November are traditionally the worst months for fires, but as of this year 8,600 forest fires in the state scorched a record 16,600 square kilometers and destroyed approximately 9,200 homes, businesses, and other buildings. There were 31 deaths.

The blackouts marked the fifth time this year that Pacific Gas & Electric, the country’s largest utility, turned off electricity for customers to reduce the risk of blackouts or contaminated power lines or other equipment that flames in bone-dry weather and gusty conditions could ignite winds.

Conditions could match those of devastating fires in California’s wine country in 2017 and last year’s Kincade Fire, which devastated Sonoma County north of San Francisco last October, the National Weather Service said. Firefighters said PG&E transmission lines started this fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes and caused nearly 100,000 people to flee.

Many of the devastating fires this year were triggered by thousands of dry lightning strikes, but some are still being investigated for possible electrical causes. While the largest California fires have been completely or significantly contained, more than 5,000 firefighters remain exposed to 20 flames, according to state firefighters.

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