September 6, 2016 – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E ) crews worked through Monday night and continue today to pre-treat wooden power poles ahead of the Saddle Fire in Butte County.
Crews applied a fire retardant to more than 200 wooden poles south of Paradise and west of Concow, where the Saddle Fire poses the greatest threat to PG&E facilities. The retardant is mixed with water and sprayed by hose onto power poles. It is the same retardant used in plane drops and will last until the rainy season.
PG&E estimates 20 to 25 wooden poles were burned in the fire on Sunday. This morning Cal Fire deemed it safe for PG&E crews to enter some of the burn area to assess damage and begin repairing poles and wires. PG&E expects to begin restoring power today to some of the 55 customers without power as repairs get underway.
updates on the Saddle Fire are posted here: http://yubanet.com/Fires/saddle/