With all due respect to PG&E and the CPUC, no, they did not.
The best practice is to install substation equipment that prevents enormous current from flowing through a phase-to-ground fault. Petersen coils and similar devices do this, and they appear to be reasonably widespread in Europe.
Heck, suppose PG&E turns off power during high wind events. Do they even have the required equipment to avoid starting a fire if a line fell and is still on the ground after the wind stops when they turn power back on? This type of equipment exists.
once the wind dies down and the humidity rises, a fire becomes much less dangerous. The problem with these recent fires is when you have like sustained 50 mph gusts and 5% humidity. When I first moved here in 89, I never heard of a fire crossing a freeway (though no doubt it happened sometimes) because the conditions weren't typically so bad. Now it is commonplace.
> When I first moved here in 89, I never heard of a fire crossing a freeway (though no doubt it happened sometimes) because the conditions weren't typically so bad
The Laguna fire in 1970 crossed over I8. [1] (Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the article, it's really interesting.) I know you acknowledge that it probably happened, but the reason is didn't happen more was due to the location of those fires, not characteristics of those fires. Most wildfires don't happen near freeways, so the data will show that fires jump freeways more frequently now. That may be true, but there are also a lot more freeways now. Interstate highways didn't even exist before 1956 and freeways were also rare at that time, so comparing freeway-jumping between then and now isn't really saying much about fire intensity.
Almost all of California's largest fires have had human causes.[3] There is a tendency to blame climate for wildfires increasing, but the real reason is that there are just a lot more people in the state. More structures, more people, more irresponsibility at scale. There is also a lot more misguided policy. For example, bans on cutting trees, reduction of logging activity and various other policies designed to "protect" the environment but fail to acknowledge unintended consequences. (To be clear, I'm not advocating mass logging, but bad policy is definitely contributing to fires.) [4]
> The problem with these recent fires is when you have like sustained 50 mph gusts and 5% humidity
As far as I know, none of the recent fires were started by events like that. The ones a looked up were single phase faults where a line hit something other than a different phase conductor due to wind or mechanical failure.
Unfortunately a 90% solution only stops around 40% all wildfires. We need to do it, yet, but California is still going to burn. People are still not going to follow best fire prevention practices, both because of ignorance and poor regulation. People are still going to build in the wildland urban interface.
The places that don't burn now are just saving up more fuel for bigger fires in the future. The idyllic mountain cabin surrounded by large pine trees and ladder fuels is lost. Roads with brush up to the lines are death traps. Housing developments in box end canyons are the definition of insanity. Climate change is making large fires more frequent. Sparks from fallen lines have killed hundreds, just wait till we get a deranged but gifted arsonist that understands meteorology.
The first place for an excellent start begins at your home. It's going to take the power company years or decades to retrofit. Push the brush and trees as far back as possible. Start a neighborhood preventative fire group. Demand your city and country cut brush back from roads.
> The first place for an excellent start begins at your home.
The 99% Invisible podcast did an episode on this [1]. There is strong evidence that even very intense forest-fires won't cause buildings to burn if they take well-known preventative measures.
I don't know how much of the financial damages from the utility companies are owed to homeowners, but it certainly seems like homeowners aren't absolved of responsibility if their house burns when they've ignored preventative measures.
The best practice is to install substation equipment that prevents enormous current from flowing through a phase-to-ground fault. Petersen coils and similar devices do this, and they appear to be reasonably widespread in Europe.
Heck, suppose PG&E turns off power during high wind events. Do they even have the required equipment to avoid starting a fire if a line fell and is still on the ground after the wind stops when they turn power back on? This type of equipment exists.