Trauner Fire, 1994
The Trauner Fire started in August 1994 when a PG&E power line brushed against a tree limb near Rough and Ready. It destroyed 12 homes and a schoolhouse built in 1868, and a jury later found PG&E guilty of 739 counts of criminal negligence.
- Where
- Nevada County, near Rough and Ready
- Utility
- PG&E
- Record
- Criminal conviction
- Started on
- Distribution line
- Acres burned
- 500
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
- Days to containment
- Not published
- Structures destroyed
- 12 homes, 22 others
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
- Deaths
- Not published
Criminal conviction
The utility pleaded guilty or was found guilty in criminal court.
A Nevada County jury found PG&E guilty in June 1997 of 739 counts of criminal negligence for failing to trim trees near its power lines.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Distribution line
A lower-voltage line that carries power along streets and roads to homes and businesses.
A 21,000-volt PG&E line that brushed against a tree limb.
What happened
- The fire
In August 1994 the fire swept through 500 acres of brush and pine forest near Rough and Ready, 10 miles west of Grass Valley. It reached the town limits and destroyed 12 homes and 22 other structures, including a schoolhouse built in 1868.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
The cause
- What failed
State forestry investigators found the fire began when a 21,000-volt power line brushed against a tree limb that PG&E was supposed to keep trimmed.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
- Criminal case
PG&E denied the allegations. The jury convicted it of 739 counts of criminal negligence, which carried up to $2 million in fines; a later Chronicle article describes a penalty of nearly $2 million.
Sources: PG&E guilty in 1994 Sierra blaze: 739 counts of negligence for not trimming trees; Tree trimming pact lowers PG&E fine to $29 million
What it cost
- CPUC settlement
In 1999 PG&E agreed to pay about $29 million to settle CPUC charges that it endangered the public by failing to keep trees trimmed away from power lines, in an investigation covering 1994 to 1998. It did not admit liability. The settlement covers tree trimming generally, not this fire alone.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Not published
We looked for these and found no source that publishes them:
- Deaths and injuries, if any
- When the fire was contained
- Evacuations
- What the fire cost