In the days before the state’s deadliest wildfire erupted near a PG&E Corp. power line during a windstorm, the company kept a close eye on the weather, warned customers it might shut off electricity in the area, and finally decided conditions weren’t bad enough to warrant it, according to a report filed Tuesday with state regulators.
The report from PG&E also shows that the giant utility company made its final decision not to cut electricity more than six hours after the Camp fire began on Nov. 8 in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Butte County. Pushed by strong winds, the fire leveled the town of Paradise, killing at least 88 people.
Even if PG&E had chosen to cut power, the company wouldn’t have switched off the high-voltage transmission line that malfunctioned in Butte County minutes before the blaze began.