As fires continue to rage across the North Bay, investigators are trying to wrap their heads around what may have caused the initial sparks.
General statistics show that people are often to blame for the start of wildfires, which can happen as a result of a tossed cigarette, errant fireworks, or any number of negligent acts that we carry out when we're just not paying attention. In the Associated Press report of the investigation, they spoke with Ken Pimlott, the director for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Pimlott told them that the source of "98 percent" of wildfires can be traced back to people. He also said that it's unlikely that lightning served as the initial starter for these particular blazes. He went on to say, "And that's all causes, it could be literally somebody putting their car off to the side of the road into dry grass."
There has been widespread speculation since Monday, however, that sparking powerlines possibly sparking because of impact with untrimmed trees in extremely high winds could end up being the culprit, especially given how many fires across a wide region all seem to have erupted at once during the Diablo winds of Sunday night and early Monday. The Mercury News reports that Sonoma County dispatchers sent out fire crews to respond to 10 separate calls of sparking power lines during a 90-minute period beginning at 9:22 p.m. Sunday. There were then reports of exploding transformers and widespread power outages, and, per the Merc, "the reports of the power equipment failures began to turn the spotlight on PG&E, the giant San Francisco-based utility, raising questions about how well it maintained its equipment in the area and whether it adequately cut back trees from power lines to reduce fire risk as required by state law."
Pimlott also spoke with ABC 7, expressing concern over how the winds have been behaving and what that means for the ongoing firefight. He said, "The winds have subsided, we don't see the kind of conditions of Sunday night, those can return and they're forecast to return to some level later in the week, but we have very little containment on most of these fires." Barry Biermann, Fire Chief for Napa County, shared similar sentiments with the AP, saying, "The winds were extremely erratic during those conditions of high winds and a lot of things happened."
The National Weather Service is predicting high winds to return Wednesday and Thursday, which could be a recipe for further disaster in Napa, Sonoma, and beyond.
If you've been feeling like we've been seeing more and more fire reports each year, you're not alone. Pimlott told ABC 7 that climate change could be to blame for that increase, as he confirmed to them that the number of wildfires has gone up 35%. Moreover, the span of time they consider "fire season" has grown. Pimlott said, "Fire seasons are longer, on average, fire seasons are 78 days longer in the west, and that's been averaged over the last 40 years."
