MIDDLETOWN>> A sparking electrical connection to a hot tub is blamed for starting the third most destructive fire in the state’s history that swept through Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties last year.
The tiny spark that caused the massive disaster came from an illegal and faulty outdoor electrical connection to a hot tub, setting nearby grass and leaves ablaze, according to CalFire investigators.
Fire and law enforcement officials held a last-minute press conference Wednesday to announce the cause of the blaze.
Even as the officials spoke, firefighters were still on the scene of two wildland fires that started Tuesday a few miles away in Clearlake, destroying two houses.
The 76,000-acre Valley Fire inferno started Sept. 12, 2015 and over the next several weeks torched 1,300 houses and 27 apartment buildings, killed four people and sent four firefighters to the hospital with serious burn injuries.
The fire allegedly started outside the home of John Pinch in the 8000 block High Valley Road in Cobb, “…due to a poor electrical connection,” CalFire investigators said in a 56-page report. The electrical conduit was for a hot tub and sent sparks arcing into adjacent dry grass and leaves, igniting the blaze. The temperature of the electrical conduit was nearly 2,000 degrees at the time of the arcing.
Ironically, the fire moved away from Pinch’s property and his house was spared from the flames.
The results of the year-long investigation were announced Wednesday afternoon in front on the South Lake County Fire Protection District station in Middletown by CalFire Director Ken Pimlott of Sacramento.
“It took a lot of work to sort through a large amount of evidence,” Chief Pimlott said of the unusually long investigation.”It was also important to determine what did not cause the fire,” which including investigating hundreds of leads.
Pimlott said this is because there are so many rumors as to the fire’s cause floating around on social media, including reports that the structure was used as a meth lab, a marijuana grow house or that the fire was arson. He added none of these rumors are true.
Local officials at the media event included Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin, District Attorney Don Anderson and Supervisor Rob Brown.
Even though the fire’s cause has been determined, officials said the investigation is continuing by the Lake County District Attorney’s office to determine if any crimes were committed.
Anderson said he couldn’t go into details about the continuing investigation but added that his office is looking at possible criminal charges. He said he did not know how long this part of the investigation will take.
Referring to the investigation, Martin said, “It’s been a long year.”
The sheriff added that the investigation is not over. “There’s going to be additional time required to make sure this is handled properly.”
He said the search for the fire’s cause took so long because, “We wanted to make sure we got it right. We had hundreds of leads to follow up on.”
CalFire’s report noted two alleged violations of law at Pinch’s property, including failing to take “reasonable precautions” to insure against starting a fire, a misdemeanor, and a state and local building code violation for not getting a permit to install the electrical conduit.
The report added that Pinch admitted to installing the conduit and doing related electrical work that led to the Valley Fire.
Supervisor Brown, whose district includes the fire-ravaged communities of Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and Cobb, said he was relieved the fire’s cause has finally been determined.
“While this is good news, it’s important to note the strength and resilience of the community and not be distracted by this,” Brown said. “I want to move forward on rebuilding. People need to stay focused on rebuilding efforts and moving forward.”
It its report, CalFire goes into great detail on exactly how the fire started and spread, stating the electrical circuitry got so hot that it melted copper wire.
“The circuit connection was not up to the National Electrical Code standards, as it was only partially encased in conduit, and the conduit that was used was not buried 18 inches and it shared the trench with the water line,” the report’s summary states.
It added that loose wiring caused sparks to arc, readily igniting the surrounding grass and leaves. From there, the triple digit temperatures, double digit wind gusts and single digit humidity took over and the fire exploded, growing at a rate firefighters had never before seen.
“There were no other plausible causes for this fire,” the summary concluded.
