NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Cal Fire said Tuesday that its investigators have determined that last year’s Dixie fire began when a tree hit Pacific Gas and Electric equipment.
Cal Fire released the report on Tuesday evening.
The determination was the result of a “meticulous and thorough” investigation that lasted nearly five months, according to Cal Fire’s statement.
The Dixie fire began on July 13, and burned 963,309 acres in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama counties, destroying 1,329 structures and damaging 95 additional structures.
It is the second-largest fire recorded in California history. The largest remains the August Complex, which burned 1,032,648 acres across Lake, Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Mendocino, Tehama and Trinity counties in 2020.
Cal Fire said its investigators were dispatched to the Dixie fire and began working to determine the origin and cause of the fire.
They concluded that the fire was caused by a tree contacting electrical distribution lines owned and operated by PG&E located west of Cresta Dam, also owned by the utility company.
Cal Fire said the Dixie fire investigative report has been forwarded to the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.
It was that agency that charged PG&E for the 2018 Camp fire, which destroyed most of the town of Paradise and killed 84 people.
In June 2020, PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully starting a fire in the Camp fire case.