Private electrical system caused Tubbs fire in California wine country

A private electrical system next to a residential home has been blamed for the deadly Tubbs Fire, which killed 23 people during a spate of deadly wildfires in California’s wine country in 2017.

Paradise Ridge in Sonoma. Credit: Facebook: Paradise Ridge

The 80-page report published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire) has revealed that, rather than Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which has been blamed for 17 of the wildfires in October 2017, a private electrical system was at fault in the case of the Tubbs Fire.

Investigators added that they had not identified any violations of state law in relation to the cause of the fire.

The Tubbs Fire in Sonoma began on the evening of 8 October 2017 and burned a total of 36,807 acres, destroyed 5,636 structures and killing 22 civilians and one firefighter.

Cal Fire’s report took 15 months to complete and suggested that parts of the electrical system were not “professionally installed”.

Out of the 17 cases where PG&E was found to be at fault, Cal Fire investigators said that it broke the law in 11 of them.

A total of 170 fires broke out in October 2017 in California, burning at least 245,000 acres. Around 11,000 firefighters from 17 states were involved in containing the fires.

As far as the wineries and vineyards were concerned, a heatwave in August and September in 2017 brought the grapes to ripeness earlier than usual, meaning than the majority had already been harvested when the fires struck.

Among the wineries most severely affected were Signorello in Napa, Paradise Ridge in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, and Paras Vineyards in Napa, Mount Veeder.

The full report can be read here.