Published 03:17 IST, October 31st 2019
'Electrical equipment may have sparked California wildfires': Report
Electrical equipment has been the main cause of South California wildfires which killed at least 3 people and devastated more than 1600 homes the previous year.
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Electrical equipment has been the main cause of South California wildfires which killed at least 3 people and devastated more than 1600 homes the previous year. The wildfires burnt the homes of the upscale residential area of Brentwood, Los Angeles which forced thousands of people to flee their homes overnight including TV personality Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to the reports on October 29. The utilities said the two cases can be taken as an example of electric lines causing major wildfires. The department has started taking prevention measures by drastic power cuts to prevent devastating wildfires.
Utility says electrical equipment to be the main cause wildfires
On Monday morning, October 28, a fire broke out near the J Paul Getty Museum. The wind breeze blew the eucalyptus branch onto an electric line which sparked resulting in the ignition of dry grasses and destroying a dozen homes, according to the initial studies by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power utility and the Fire Department. On the other hand, the Southern California Edison announced that it believes its equipment caused deadly wildfires last year northwest of Los Angeles. The utility department said in a statement that the Ventura County Fire department found that the SoCal Edison equipment sparked the November fires which burnt down homes in Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, and Malibu.
The wildfires destroyed the vegetation in the region
The equipment company said that the fire department had not yet released any findings. The victims' families have filed lawsuits against the utility but the cause is still under investigation by SoCal Edison, Cal Fire, and the Ventura County Fire Department.
The Los Angeles fire broke out in Interstate 405 in the middle of the night on Monday which has also resulted in destroying the vegetation in the region. The utility said that the eucalyptus branch blew about 30 feet onto the power line. The blaze burned around 2.5 square kilometres of area and continued to burn slowly with smoke without flame. Nearly 9000 people including personalities like Schwarzenegger and LeBron James had to follow evacuation orders as the firefighters warned that the hot winds were expected to return and continue until Thursday.
03:17 IST, October 31st 2019