SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two years before a tree falling on a PG&E power line sparked 2020’s deadly Zogg fire in northern California, a PG&E contractor told the utility the pine needed to be removed, but PG&E stopped working in the area after an armed resident confronted its crew.
The little-known incident was revealed in a state utility commission document issued last month that proposes to fine PG&E $155 million for causing the blaze that killed four people and destroyed more than 200 buildings as it ravaged an area southwest of Redding for 16 days.
PG&E’s 2018 work stoppage in the area where the Zogg fire ignited came early in a five-year probation period imposed on the utility the year before by a federal court judge, following PG&E’s conviction on six felonies related to the 2010 San Bruno explosion that killed eight people.
