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.
That probation, which required PG&E not to commit crimes, ended earlier this year. The judge overseeing the probation, William Alsup in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, wrote in his final comments that PG&E over the five years had “gone on a crime spree” causing wildfires that killed 113 people, and would “emerge from probation as a continuing menace to California.” Earlier, Alsup accused PG&E of cheating on its power-grid maintenance “in order to enlarge dividends, bonuses, and political contributions.”
State investigators have determined “with a high degree of certainty” that the Zogg fire was started by one of two gray pines falling onto a PG&E power line, the proposed order said. The utility has pleaded not guilty to four charges of manslaughter brought by the Shasta County District Attorney in relation to the Zogg Fire.
In August 2018, PG&E contractor Mountain G. Enterprises had identified the two gray pines near Zogg Mine Road, and categorized them to PG&E as “Priority 2” for removal, indicating they needed cutting down but did not pose an immediate risk to the utility’s infrastructure, according to the proposed order by the California Public Utilities Commission.
About two months later, PG&E’s work in the Zogg Mine Road area was “interrupted … due to interactions with a resident of Zogg Mine Road, who believed that PG&E crews were cutting trees unnecessarily,” PG&E has reported, according to the utilities commission. The resident “had previously brandished a firearm to tree crews attempting to work in the area and was threatening to do so again,” the commission said.
PG&E never took down either of the gray pines, designated as “6557” and “6558,” according to the commission. The utility has said that one of its managers “recalls at some point making a decision to rely on PG&E’s routine (vegetation management) patrols of the area for any remaining work on Zogg Mine Road,” the commission said.
A spokesman for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it responded in September 2018 to a “verbal altercation where a weapon was shown.” Spokesman Timothy Mapes said he believed this was the incident referenced by the commission, when the resident first confronted tree crews, before later making a threat that interrupted PG&E’s work. Police determined that the resident’s gun was shown but “not brandished at the crew,” and concluded “there was no crime,” Mapes said.
PG&E at the time “requested a possible standby by a deputy in the future if their crew had reason to return,” Mapes added. The utility commission noted that PG&E “made inquiries into obtaining security support from law enforcement,” but that “PG&E did not indicate whether this security support was ever obtained, whether the crews working in the Zogg Mine Road area ever resumed work, or even definitively that this interaction with the armed resident was the reason why Trees 6557 and 6558 were not removed.”
The San Francisco-based utility, asked about the Zogg Mine Road incidents and the armed resident, did not directly answer. “Each year, PG&E invests millions of dollars on behalf of our customers in vegetation management work. We inspect, and prune or remove vegetation that could contact electrical equipment, causing power outages or sparking wildfires,” PG&E said in a statement. “If landowners refuse, interfere with, or block this important safety work, they put neighborhoods and entire communities at risk.”
In 2020, PG&E customers interfered with or blocked the utility’s vegetation management more than 10,000 times, the utility said. “When this happens, PG&E initiates the more formalized dispute resolution process, which can range from escalated customer communication to taking legal action in some cases,” the utility said.
Between 2018 and 2021, physical or verbal threats against PG&E employees and contractors have more than doubled, and the utility “routinely seeks support from our law enforcement partners to deal with such occurrences,” PG&E said. “This delays our ability to complete this important public safety work as we work through the dispute resolution process. Any one of these instances could result in a fire ignition.”
The utility did not respond to a question asking if the increase in threats correlated with an increase in its tree-removal work. PG&E in 2018 launched its “Enhanced Vegetation Management” program, which says that “trees that are too close to, or threaten power lines, can be dangerous and expose the communities we serve to wildfire risk.”
PG&E noted in its statement that it had supported the failed California Senate Bill 396 that would have expanded its ability to cut down trees on private land. The bill was opposed by several environmental groups over stated concerns about environmental damage, property rights and effectiveness against wildfires.
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