SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – CAL FIRE says 12 Northern California wildfires last fall, including two that killed a total of 15 people, were caused by downed power lines.
The agency said in a report Friday that investigators determined the fires "were caused by electric power and distribution lines, conductors and the failure of power poles."
All involved equipment was owned by San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric. A message left with PG&E was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
The report said the cluster of fires burned at least 245,000 acres in Northern California. About 11,000 firefighters from 17 states and Australia helped battle the blazes.
The deadly fires in Friday’s report burned in Mendocino and Napa counties.
CAL FIRE investigators are still probing other fires in October and December.
(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
