PG&E leaves behind over 100,000 felled trees

More than a dozen fire-hit counties in Northern California are warning of a new fire threat as PG&E failed to remove more than 100,000 trees it cut down as it ramped up fire mitigation efforts around its power lines.

Mark Amador, a Lake Berryessa Estates resident, said he welcomed PG&E crews clearing trees from power lines in his area. But he says they left behind dozens of dying or dead trees, which are now a new fire threat. “I’m just wondering why they didn’t complete the job,” he said.

“It’s a safety issue for the public and the property owner,” said Amador’s neighbor Gary Stanley, pointing to a leaning tree that he said died after PG&E crews chopped off all of its branches. “What will happen if guests come to him and this moron falls on someone’s head?”.

Stanley should be aware of the risk, as he spent three decades cutting trees, including six years as a contract crew member clearing trees from PG&E lines. He says that what PG&E contractors have left in his area is unforgivable.

“It’s just a lousy job – and no oversight,” Stanley said. “They have several different wood outfits that they use and no one comes back to check if everything is done right because it all had to be removed.”

In response to widespread complaints, more than a dozen counties in Northern California have banded together to call on PG&E to complete its vegetation management efforts by removing dead trees and flammable debris left behind by power line clearing crews.

One county, Butte, which was hit by a series of fires, including a massive 2018 camp fire, is now facing a fire risk from felled trees left on the ground. Some of the hardest hit areas include the towns of Cohasset and Magalia, near which the fire broke out.

Photos provided by local firefighters show dozens of downed trees near power lines, some they say have been on the ground for six months or more.

PG&E said in a statement that it removed 200,000 trees cut down as part of vegetation management efforts. Last year, the company achieved its fire safety targets and satisfied regulatory authorities.

But PG&E acknowledged that it still has a backlog of about 115,000 trees to be removed. Part of the problem, she told counties in a letter late last year, is that she briefly paused her vegetation management efforts last summer to be able to take stock and improve her work.

The utility said in a statement that safety is its “most important responsibility” and the backlog is expected to be cleared by the end of this year, subject to weather conditions and permit requirements.

But Cal Fire officials say the debris and fallen trees that PG&E has yet to clean up are a legitimate danger to residents.

“We hope these downed materials will be removed in the near future,” said Mike Marcucci, head of Cal Fire’s Napa regional division.

In some cases, he says, timber left behind by PG&E crews has forced property owners to forego fire inspections to ensure they maintain a fire-safe buffer zone around their properties. These residents, he says, want this forest to be removed as soon as possible.

“I know the county is…working with PG&E and other stakeholders to try and get this done and speed up this process.”

Napa County Supervisor Ann Cottrell, who was recently elected, said she sympathizes with “how frustrating it must be for residents to have dead or dying trees in their yard” left behind by PG&E as they have another season of potentially deadly fires looming. She was involved in pushing PG&E to get the job done, but admits that the job is “not done yet”.

Amador says PG&E officials have repeatedly assured him and other Lake Berryessa residents that they will remove dead and dying trees near the homes. But some works languished for more than two and a half years.

Meanwhile, the residents have to live with the risk of dead and dying trees. “This tree is leaning – it will hit this house,” Amador said, standing near one of the cut trees left by the PG&E crews.