SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today issued the following
statement in response to a report released by the California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) on the Butte Fire.
“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the
victims and the communities who suffered losses as a result of the Butte
fire. We are committed to doing the right thing for them and to promptly
resolving their claims. We have already begun to address many claims.
We want to thank CAL FIRE and all first responders for their bravery and
commitment in responding to this major fire. We cooperated fully with
CAL FIRE’s investigation of the fire and we appreciate the thoroughness
of its report.
Based on our preliminary review, we accept the report’s finding that a
tree made contact with a power line, but we do not believe it is clear
what caused the tree to fail or that vegetation management practices
fell short.
Effective vegetation management is critically important to fire safety
and we want to reassure all of our customers and their families that we
are unequivocally committed to their safety. We monitor approximately 50
million trees a year and we trim or remove more than one million trees
annually.
Our vegetation management program is among the very best in the industry
and was expanded in 2014 in response to California’s historic drought to
include special air and foot patrols, funding for lookout towers and
cameras for early fire detection and funding for fire fuel reduction and
emergency access projects and public education.
Despite these efforts, we recognize the hardships that this terrible
fire caused and we are committed to helping our friends and neighbors
recover.”
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco,
with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the
nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
http://www.pgecurrents.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pacificgasandelectric
https://twitter.com/pge4me
http://www.linkedin.com/company/pacific-gas-and-electric-company
http://www.youtube.com/user/pgevideo
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160428007092/en/
Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company