SDG&E power lines blamed for firestorm
UCAN News
Downed power line sparked Rice fire
SAN DIEGO COUNTY ---- Downed power lines and a quick-spreading structure blaze are to blame for the devastating fires in Fallbrook and Pauma Valley, respectively, but the cause of the fires raging through the rest of the region have not yet been determined, authorities said Thursday.
No further details were immediately available on the power lines that sparked the Rice fire, which started in the Fallbrook-Rice Canyon area on Monday and had burned 9,000 acres by Thursday evening, said Roxanne Provaznik, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
In Pauma Valley, the 35,000-acre Poomacha fire started Tuesday when a structure fire raged out of control on the La Jolla Indian Reservation, fire officials said. That blaze prompted evacuations in Valley Center and was 20 percent contained as of Thursday.
It was not known Thursday whether arson was involved in any of the other fires, including the county's two largest blazes ---- the 200,000-acre Witch Creek fire and the 81,000-acre Harris fire ---- or the 10,000-acre Horno/Ammo fire on Camp Pendleton, Provaznik said.
"I talked to the investigator today, and there are several more people to be interviewed," Provaznik said.
Those three blazes, which span from the inland hills of Ramona to the coastal Marine base, have leveled at least 845 homes and resulted in at least seven deaths directly related to the fires.
Arson has been determined as the cause of several other fires, including a 200-square-foot blaze on Calera Street in Vista on Tuesday, sheriff's officials said. Deputies said they arrested Gorgonio Nava, 19, and a juvenile on suspicion of setting the fire, which was doused by firefighters before it spread to nearby structures.
Authorities also blame arson for the 23,000-acre Santiago fire in Orange County, as well as a small brush fire in San Bernardino County that led to Wednesday's arrest of John Alfred Rund of Hesperia. Also in San Bernardino, police shot and killed an arson suspect who allegedly backed his car into a patrol cruiser after a chase on Tuesday.
Like what you see? Go ahead and show your support! UCAN is a truly independent non-profit watchdog organization, dependent on grassroots donations like yours!
Utility Consumers' Action Network
(619) 696-6966 or file a complaint about a company online.
Terms & Conditions
UCAN.org is made available by the Utility Consumers' Action Network to assist you in becoming what you always knew you could be, a consumer ROCK STAR! We take no corporate money, and are beholden only to you, the consumer. As such, the site is here for educational, advocacy, and empowerment purposes, as well to to give you general information and a general understanding of the law. Just remember this site is NOT here to provide specific legal advice. By using this web site you of course understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Web Site publisher, UCAN. The Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
That said, get to digging on the site, inform yourself, speak your mind, and earn Watchdog Bones! This is YOUR site, and we mean it. So comment on any of the content, discuss the latest issues in the forums, file a complaint on a company with the fraud squad, and generally cut loose.
See our Privacy Policy and Copyright Policy, Some Rights Reserved
- Remember, if you have any questions about copyright law or need legal information regarding intellectual property, the internet, or new technologies, visit our affiliate New Media Rights at www.newmediarights.org. If you are in the San Diego region, you can also can apply to use our multimedia studio and equipment for free.
An ocean liner is usually a
An ocean liner is usually a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (e.g. for pleasure cruises or as troopships).
San Diego Electric Grid Help
The local electric grid, as aptly pointed out by UCAN, needs serious upgrading.
SDGE should be forced into putting more investment there as opposed to the ridiculous new "power link".
Along that line (so to speak), plans for LOCAL GENERATION need to be the priority, not long distance importation of electricity, where UCAN is rightfully fighting SDGE's constant urge to cheat the local ratepayer and leave San Diego vulnerable to disaster, like the recent fires. Is it possible SDGE's marginal maintenance of the local grid may have been a potential fire hazard contributor in this latest fire storm?
I'm curious to know why there hasn't been much of a look to the West of us for energy and clean water help? I'm talking about the Ocean. There are a number of excellent projects in the works both nationally and internationally that are using WAVE ENERGY to produce, at low cost, large amounts of electricity and in some cases, desalinated clean water. With Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, we should be a leader in this potential area of energy and clean water production. Perhaps the desalination project in Carlsbad should incorporate this idea.
Could UCAN take a look at this potential energy/drinking water source?
Post new comment