July 11, 2017 – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) continues to replace equipment damaged in the Wall Fire and expects to restore power to all 87 remaining customers by 8 p.m. today.
About 60 PG&E personnel are working as safely and quickly as possible to replace the remaining 18 damaged poles and restring power lines in mostly rugged terrain in the foothills east of Oroville, where the Wall Fire has burned more than 5,800 acres and is 45 percent contained. The rocky terrain makes it time consuming to auger holes.
Tree contractors for PG&E are removing 670 fire-damaged trees that pose a hazard to power lines and public safety, and expect to finish this work on Wednesday.
For owners who lost buildings in the fire who need to re-establish power for construction or to new module homes, PG&E recommends they begin the process early to apply for service restoration and indicate on their application the request is due to the Wall Fire. Applications can be requested by calling PG&E’s customer service at 800-PGE-5000 or online at www.pge.com/renovation .
More than 800 PG&E customers lost power due to fire damage and PG&E proactively de-energizing power lines for firefighter safety. About 50 wooden utility poles were damaged, with most replaced on Monday.
Throughout the weekend, PG&E crews pre-treated more than 400 wooden poles with fire retardant and re-energized power lines once it was safe to do so. PG&E made repairs and restored power to homes along Swedes Flat Road on Sunday.