A county supervisor makes a motion to conclude the investigation and to implement monitoring of power lines for future prevention.
By Nora Fleming / Special to The Malibu Times
An investigation into last October’s Canyon Fire, which was suspected to be the result of downed power poles in the area, has not yet been finished, but recent Los Angeles and Ventura County area fires have encouraged local officials to demand completion.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will put forth a motion at the Board of Supervisors meeting to urge the conclusion of the investigation to determine the cause of the canyon fire and to mitigate similar hazards from occurring in the future through more stringent monitoring of above ground utilities, particularly during heavy Santa Ana winds.
The investigation of the canyon fire was requested by the supervisor’s office in November 2007 to be conducted by the California Public Utilities Commission, which monitors some of the power lines in the area. A draft was submitted to Yaroslavsky, but was never made official, said Joel Bellman, press deputy for the supervisor.
Steve Conroy, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, which owns utility lines/power poles in Malibu, said both Edison and the PUC are “aware that power poles came down during high wind conditions, but the investigations are not complete.”
Conroy said he could not provide a timeline for when they would be.
Conroy also said that Edison, in conjunction with PUC, maintains rigorous inspections of the poles and utility lines and have continued to apply these standards in Malibu.
Additionally, there are other utility lines in Malibu (and other locations) on privately held lands that are not monitored by either entity. Yaroslavsky is urging the county counsel and Fire Department to amend the county fire code and make regulations regarding brush clearance around power poles and utility lines on privately held lands.
“Public safety in these areas would be advanced if the county’s fire code were amended to require brush clearance around power poles and transmission lines that do not come under the state’s jurisdiction,” the motion reads.
This could be “sufficient to mitigate a fire hazard in a high wind event such as the Santa Ana wind conditions that prevailed on Oct. 13.”
While The Malibu Times went to print before the vote on the motion, Bellman said the supervisor’s office was confident it would pass.
Some Malibu residents and local officials have supported moving the power lines underground as a preventative measure, but it is a costly procedure.
“After the fires in October, we met with government officials and talked about putting all the high-risk telephone and electric lines underground,” said Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich, who supports undergrounding the power lines. “I think the cost is approximately $1 million a mile, which is far less than the cost of the three fires we have had attributed to downed electric lines.”
But Conroy said the million-dollar per mile estimate is a bare minimum calculated on level terrain without bends and turns, and the cost would be much higher in Malibu, given its geography.
The decision to move the lines underground is not solely up to one body, Conroy said. It would be a group decision of local officials, the PUC, Edison and other stakeholders. The process would not only be an enormous cost, he said, it would also take a great deal of time.
This cost would be paid for by residents Conroy said, though the PUC’s Rule 20 allows funds for conversion of overhead to underground lines, if certain criteria are met.
“It’s an extremely complicated issue,” Conroy said. “This is not a one size fits all policy. We approach it on a case-by-case basis.”
San Diego Gas & Electric filed a petition in 2007 with the California PUC for regulations on disaster preparedness regulations and utility line management, but has not received an outcome. Zaroslavsky’s motion also requests this petition’s completion.
While no serious fires have yet occurred this fall in Malibu, the recent Sesnon fire in the San Fernando Valley at Porter Ranch, which burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed 11 homes and 63 outbuildings, was also attributed to downed power lines, in addition to above ground utilities from a local Southern California Gas Co. plant in the area, according to CalFire
Deputy Chief Scott Poster, fire department spokesperson, was not available for comment due to the recent fire situation on Catalina Island.