As smoke clears in California, pressure builds on power companies over massive fire

LOS ANGELES (NYTIMES, REUTERS) - As firefighters worked to contain wildfires across California on Saturday (Nov 2), residents began returning to their homes, business owners surveyed the damage, and officials shifted their attention to what had gone wrong and what could be done to prevent - or at least temper - what has become a near-constant threat.

The state was not in the clear yet: The Maria fire was still burning in Ventura County, and red-flag warnings were still in effect until Saturday evening. But firefighters had contained 20 per cent of the 9,400-acre fire by the afternoon, and many residents were allowed back to their houses.

For power companies, the heat only continues to build. Southern California Edison, one of the state's largest electric companies, disclosed last Friday that just 13 minutes before the Maria fire began, it had begun to return electricity to a nearby circuit after a power shut-off intended to prevent wildfires.

Mr Ron Gales, a spokesman for the company, said that it was unclear whether the return of electricity was related to the fire but that the company had alerted a state regulator and would cooperate with any investigative agencies.

The Maria fire erupted last Thursday near the community of Santa Paula, about 110km northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and it has since charred 3,800 hectares of dry brush and chaparral, officials said. More than 10,000 people were under evacuation orders at the height of the blaze.

Firefighters began to get the upper hand on a destructive wildfire on Saturday, taking advantage of lighter winds.

The fire department has scrambled to protect tens of millions of dollars worth of citrus and avocado crops in harm's way, as well as oil industry infrastructure.

Politicians and residents have increasingly expressed outrage at power companies for sparking some of the state's deadliest wildfires. That anger grew in recent weeks when the companies turned off power to millions of people to prevent starting more.

Southern California Edison's (SCE) chief executive officer Pedro Pizarro, told investors on a telephone conference last week that a preliminary investigation from the Ventura County Fire Department found that the company had most likely been responsible for the Woolsey fire last year. The blaze killed three people and destroyed more than 1,600 homes and businesses.

"Absent additional evidence, SCE believes it is likely that its equipment was associated with the ignition of the Woolsey fire," Mr Pizarro said on the call.

During several public safety shutoffs in October, Southern California Edison cut off electricity to more than 200,000 customers and Pacific Gas and Electric's shutoffs put nearly a million customers in the dark, mostly in Northern California.

Despite those blackouts, the companies and fire investigators are reviewing whether the utilities' equipment was responsible for a number of recent fires.

The Maria Fire erupted after fierce Santa Ana desert gusts howled across much of Southern California. Santa Ana winds and similar gusts in Northern California have intensified a number of wildfires in the state this fall.

The state's largest blaze, the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County north of San Francisco, was 72 per cent contained on Saturday after burning over 3,200 hectares and destroying more than 370 structures since it started on Oct 23, officials said.