VIDEO: PG&E power lines sparked the Camp Fire in Butte County that killed 85 people last year, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said transmission lines owned and operated by the San Francisco-based utility started the Nov. 8 fire that nearly destroyed the town of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The fire wiped out nearly 15,000 homes. Many of those killed were elderly or disabled. The oldest was 99.
"Investigators determined there were violations of law," Cal Fire deputy director Mike Mohler said. He said he hadn't read the report and didn't know the nature of the violations. Cal Fire did not release its full investigative report, saying it had been forwarded to the Butte County district attorney's office, which is considering criminal charges against the utility.
The investigation also identified a second nearby ignition site involving PG&E's electrical distribution lines that had come into contact with vegetation. The second fire was quickly consumed by the initial fire.