At the same time it pleaded guilty in 2020 to killing 84 people in the 2018 Camp Fire, PG&E paid for a lawsuit sealing the most detailed record of its crimes
Chapter one: THE RUN TO FAILURE POLICY
The severely worn parts found in the Bay Area showed the same kind of wear that caused a power line to fall in Butte County, sparking the 2018 Camp Fire.
The Camp Fire was sparked by PG&E’s Caribou-Palermo transmission line, which was even older than the line was originally identified as in PG&E’s lab report. Built in 1921, the line was 97 years old when it failed.
Credit: SOURCE: PG&E
These photos taken by PG&E and obtained by ABC10 show other severely worn hooks and their hanger plates from along the Caribou-Palermo transmission line. A broken hook on the line sparked the fire and PG&E crews were allowed to collect evidence in the criminal case against the company because no qualified contractors would do the work for prosecutors. An internal PG&E lab report also obtained by ABC10 showed PG&E knew parts showed this extent of wear on older transmission lines as early as seven months before the Camp Fire sparked.