State fire officials say Pacific Gas & Electric power lines sparked last summer’s Dixie Fire in Northern California that swept through five counties and burned more than 1,300 homes and other buildings.
Cal Fire said Tuesday that the blaze began last July after a tree hit electrical distribution lines in the Sierra Nevada.
The fire burned nearly 1 million acres and killed one person. PG&E already had said its equipment may have been involved and it's facing legal action for other fires.
The blaze was fully contained on Oct. 25. The fire was second largest on recordafter the August Complex, a wildfire that scorched more than 1 million acres in 2020.
PG&E has not responded to the claim.
PG&E pleaded guilty last year to 84 counts of manslaughter in the state’s deadliest wildfire, the Camp Fire, and is on probation for a 2010 pipeline explosion that killed eight people.
