Witch and Guejito fires, 2007
The Witch Fire started on an SDG&E power line near Santa Ysabel on October 21, 2007. It merged with the Guejito Fire, which also started on SDG&E equipment, and burned west through Ramona, Poway and Escondido to Rancho Santa Fe.
- Where
- San Diego County, from Witch Creek near Santa Ysabel west to Rancho Santa Fe
- Utility
- SDG&E
- Record
- Found by investigators
- Started on
- Transmission line
- Acres burned
- 197,990
- Days to containment
- 16
Source: CAL FIRE
- Structures destroyed
- 1,650 to 1,711
- Deaths
- 2
Found by investigators
The agency that investigated the fire found that the utility's equipment started it.
Cal Fire and the CPUC's safety staff found that SDG&E facilities started both fires. The CPUC relied on those findings in 2017 when it refused SDG&E's request to charge customers for the costs.
Sources: Decision 18-07-025, SDG&E 2007 wildfire cost recovery (A.15-09-010); Decision 17-11-033, denying SDG&E's request to recover 2007 wildfire costs
Transmission line
A high-voltage line that carries bulk power between substations, the kind the Golden Pacific Powerlink would be.
Witch: SDG&E's 69 kV line TL 637, which the CPUC classes as transmission. Guejito: a Cox Communications wire against an SDG&E 12 kV distribution line.
What happened
- Started
October 21, 2007, in Witch Creek Canyon near Santa Ysabel. Cal Fire found it ignited after a fault on SDG&E's line at 12:23 p.m.; CAL FIRE's incident page gives 12:35 p.m.
Sources: County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services; California Public Utilities Commission; CAL FIRE
- The Guejito Fire
First reported by Cal Fire at 1 a.m. on October 22, 2007. It merged with the Witch Fire.
- Contained
November 6, 2007, after 16 days.
Source: CAL FIRE
- Area
197,990 acres for the two fires combined, the largest of the 2007 San Diego County fires.
Sources: CAL FIRE; California Public Utilities Commission; County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services
- Buildings
CAL FIRE lists 1,711 structures destroyed and 25 damaged. The CPUC, citing Cal Fire, counts 1,141 homes, 509 outbuildings and 239 vehicles destroyed.
- Deaths and injuries
Two people were killed and 40 injured. CAL FIRE's page lists the 40 as civilians; the CPUC and SDG&E describe them as firefighters.
Sources: CAL FIRE; California Public Utilities Commission; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)
- Evacuations
On the night of October 21, the Sheriff ordered all of Ramona to evacuate; its order was lifted on October 25 at 7:15 p.m. Across the seven October 2007 fires, the county ordered an estimated 515,000 residents to evacuate. That figure is not broken out by fire.
The cause
- Witch
Cal Fire found the fire ignited after the third of four faults on SDG&E's 69 kV line TL 637, between the Santa Ysabel and Creelman substations. The CPUC's safety staff found that the line's conductors had touched each other.
Sources: Decision 17-11-033, denying SDG&E's request to recover 2007 wildfire costs; Decision 18-07-025, SDG&E 2007 wildfire cost recovery (A.15-09-010); Report of the Consumer Protection and Safety Division on the Guejito, Witch and Rice fires
- Shutting off the line
SDG&E shut off TL 637 about 6.5 hours after the first fault and almost 2.5 hours after it knew the fire had started. The CPUC did not consider that delay reasonable given the high winds and repeated faults.
Sources: Decision 18-07-025, SDG&E 2007 wildfire cost recovery (A.15-09-010); Decision 17-11-033, denying SDG&E's request to recover 2007 wildfire costs
- Guejito
Cal Fire and the CPUC's safety staff attributed it to a Cox Communications lashing wire that touched an SDG&E 12 kV conductor.
Sources: Decision 17-11-033, denying SDG&E's request to recover 2007 wildfire costs; Report of the Consumer Protection and Safety Division on the Guejito, Witch and Rice fires
- In court
SDG&E settled the lawsuits rather than litigate them to a verdict.
What it cost
- These figures cover all three fires
The Witch, Guejito and Rice fires were settled and reviewed together, and the sources give their costs for all three combined, not fire by fire.
Sources: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR); California Public Utilities Commission
- Total costs, per the CPUC
$2.4 billion in costs and legal fees, by the CPUC's account. Part was recovered from SDG&E's liability insurance, and about $824 million from Cox Communications and three contractors.
Sources: California Public Utilities Commission; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)
- Paid to people who sued
About $1.25 billion to about 6,500 plaintiffs, SDG&E reported in 2014.
- Paid to insurers
SDG&E said it has paid or will pay 57.5 percent of the roughly $1.6 billion insurers paid or reserved for their policyholders.
- Public agencies
$27 million to the City of San Diego, $24.5 million to San Diego County and $6.4 million to the U.S. Forest Service, as reported in 2012.
Source: POWER Magazine
- Charged to customers
SDG&E asked to recover $379 million of its 2007 wildfire costs from customers. The CPUC refused in 2017, finding that SDG&E "did not reasonably manage and operate its facilities prior to the 2007 Southern California Wildfires", and denied rehearing in 2018.
Sources: Decision 17-11-033, denying SDG&E's request to recover 2007 wildfire costs; Decision 18-07-025, SDG&E 2007 wildfire cost recovery (A.15-09-010)
- CPUC penalty
In 2010 SDG&E agreed to pay $14,350,000 to the state's General Fund, plus up to $400,000 to the CPUC's safety division, to settle the CPUC's investigation. It did not admit any safety violation. Cox Communications paid $2,000,000.
Not published
We looked for these and found no source that publishes them:
- How many households never returned
- Insured losses for these two fires alone
- Any criminal charge (we found none)