THE GEYSERS — A wildfire which burned 75 acres in Lake County in the Geysers area was fully contained as of 12 a.m. Friday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The fire broke out in the early afternoon hours on Thursday, said CDF spokesman Captain Palleson.
The fire did not threaten any geothermal power facilities in the area and none went offline as a result of the fire, said Fire Captain Marshall Tuberville of CDF”s St. Helena office.
Tuberville reported that no structures were threatened or affected by the blaze, no residents were evacuated and no firefighters were injured.
Lead Investigator Chris Vallarga said the fire was started by a squirrel which climbed a power pole, touched the power lines, caught fire and fell to the ground.
“We know this is the cause because we found the body parts right behind geothermal power plant unit 12,” Vallarga said.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company Spokesperson Brian Swanson reported that no outages were reported in association with the fire and that it burned away from PG&E”s transmission lines, which have high-test levels of voltage and deliver power to the substations.
“We had a temporary shutdown on an interior power pole because we were working aircraft in the area, but that was it,” said Vallerga yesterday, as he headed over to fight another fire in Napa.
The last major fire at The Geysers property occured in 2004 and was found to be caused by a faulty electrical splice which burned more than 12,000 acres in Lake and Sonoma counties and cost $14 million to suppress.
In that fire, county resident Wil Locke suffered major damage and property loss and still has not had his claim settled by the Calpine, which went into bankruptcy.
Calpine”s general manager, John Farison, said last month that residents who were impacted by The Geysers fire in 2004 will not be impacted by Calpine”s bankruptcy and that the company”s insurance provider will handle all claims.
The date for filing a proof of claim against Calpine is 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1.
Contact Cynthia Davis at cdavis@record-bee.com.
