As Devastating Fires Plague California, Pasadena Committee to Review City’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan

Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) will provide an update of their Wildfire Mitigation Plan, a statement of the measures and strategies in place to minimize the impact of a wildfire, when the City Council’s Municipal Services Committee meets Tuesday, Oct. 27.

The state requires every water and power utility in the state to submit a Wildfire Mitigation Plan, updated periodically, that establishes various programs, policies, and a range of activities taken to mitigate the threat of power line-ignited fires, which most of the recent fires in the state are believed to be.

A story in the industry magazine Electrical Contractor in late 2018, quoting official reports, said while the problem of power line-ignited fires exist in a number of states, the most serious problems have occurred in California, especially over the last three years.

This past summer, Altadena and parts of Pasadena were put on evacuation alert during the Bobcat Fire which spread dangerously close to the Mt. Wilson Observatory.

In 2009, the Station Fire threatened structures in Pasadena and Altadena and several other neighborhoods.

Both blazed negatively impacted local air quality.

In late 2017, power lines owned by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) were blamed for a dozen Northern California wildfires and 18 related deaths. A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection report showed these fires started when trees and branches came into contact with power lines.

In the summer of 2018, the department said at least 17 more major wildfires were triggered by downed power lines. One of these, the Thomas Fire in Southern California, was triggered by Southern California Edison lines. That fire destroyed 1,000 buildings and led to a landslide that killed 22 people.

Under the California Public Utilities Code (CPUC), public utilities must prepare a wildfire mitigation plan by Jan. 1, 2021 and update it annually thereafter.

PWP presented the Wildfire Mitigation Plan to the Pasadena City Council in November 2019, and was instructed to update it with an overview on completed projects and the different options for proposed projects in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas of the plan.

The plan has three main objectives: to minimize sources of ignition, to improve the resiliency of the PWP electric grid, and to identify unnecessary and ineffective actions.

In Tuesday’s meeting, PWP will describe the projects in detail as needed and answer questions.

The 2021 plan will be presented to the Pasadena City Council for approval before Dec. 31, 2020.

Members of the community can access the special meeting via http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9 and through www.pasadenamedia.org.

Public comments may be submitted in advance through this email address: vflores@cityofpasadena.net before Tuesday, or through www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment on the day of the meeting.