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It has always been my contention that P.G and E. "just as was found in San Bruno"; Failed in its "standard of duty" as to its failure to initiate a "public health and safety protocol" when their construction crews were operating and constructing the 75kva "new line" connection and connection using the "hot jump" technique as was employed the day the fire was started by arcing wires. As is San Bruno; P.G. and E. used this method just as they decided to implement the "least cost's" form of safety evaluations in San Bruno with the gas line, they also used the "least cost method" to "hot jump" a new connection to the existing service line located on the Freitas property side of the kings river span. Not only were they incompetent, and intentional in their failure to initiate a safety plan or protocol, they also "failed to act" at the request of Keith Freitas not only to inspect the potential for fire prior to initiating the hot jump, but failed to respond accordingly to the information provided by Freitas to the head of P.G. and E. corporate security, namely Del Unhrue. Mr. Freitas contacted P.G. and E. and requested an inspection and presented the issue regarding fire potential as a problem with the active construction taking place just across the opposite side of the Kings River from the Freitas property. Mr. Unhure not only visited the Freittas property he took notes and pictures of the areas of concern presented to him by Mr. Freitas, just (4) days before the electrical fire started a out of control wild fire that swept across 7000 acres in the matter of minutes and took a week to get under control. Just as P.G. and E. failed the city and community of San Bruno, Ca. so did they fail the Freitas Family and many others who lost property and personal items along with the emotional fear of having their homes burn to the ground, all because P.G and E. did not want to shut down the Copper Mine Line Down in order to connect the "new power lines" to the "existing power lines". Freitas has owned this property for 18 years and over this period there have been (8) known utility caused fires withing the same location of the 2008 Piedra Fire, but P.G. and E. has managed to escape blame for all those previous fires either by the fact that the fires are located in a remote area (lack of witness and/or physical evidence) , or by the "political and financial prowess the company employ's and extends to many operation aspects of its company activities.
Even if the fire inspectors findings found that it was a probable "wire slap" that caused the fire, the root cause of the wire slap is the contention. The winds or a physical event could have caused the "wire slap", regardless of the root cause, it still leaves the question "Why did P.G and E. not have manpower placed on the Freitas side of the Kings River ?" and why did Del Unhru fail to respond to the Freitas concerns, one of which was "dry heavy grasses" located under the 75kva lines that were involved in the construction and tie-in ?"..... The failure of P.G. and E. to initiate the most basic "public safety protocols" during known construction zones is a basic reminder of the corporate mentality and culture that killed (8) people and caused millions in damages in San Bruno, Ca.
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Daryl Baltazar is writer for Green Fresno covering all sustainability topics. Please contact him if you have event or article ideas.
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