Kincade Fire at 22 thousand acres; PG&E Transmission Line Damage Probed

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As 1300 firefighters battle the Kincade fire east of Geyserville, Cal Fire revised the size of the blaze Friday morning upwards to almost 22 thousand acres.

Winds dropped to manageable levels by late on Thursday, and by Friday morning winds were mostly light. However they were expected to ramp up again Saturday and bring possibly the strongest winds of the fall as another PSPS high wind event arrives late on Saturday.

In all almost 50 structures were reportedly destroyed including about a dozen homes as the fire burned outward at its edges along the Alexander Valley as well as north and east toward Cobb Mountain in Lake County.

As hundreds of additional firefighters and more equipment arrives Friday, the biggest challenge for fire crews will be to get solid containment lines in place before forecasted high winds arrive late on Saturday.

Meantime, authorities are investigating reports that a PG&E high voltage transmission line may have been damaged very near the time the fire broke out. PG&E has reported to the California Public Utilities Commission that one of its transmission lines was damaged in the same area as the fire’s origin Wednesday night, only minutes before the blaze broke out.

PG&E acknowledges that smaller distribution lines in the area were de-energized, but that the larger transmission line remained powered as their forecasts indicated winds speeds would not be strong enough to damage it.

That transmission line failure will be at the center of the investigation into what sparked the Kincade Fire.