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Comment by cogman10 | Hacker News Reader

I'm not saying PG&E shouldn't pay out, they were directly responsible.

But I will say that Paradise was in a bad state prior to the fire, simply nobody knew how bad. While a wildfire like that wasn't guaranteed, they were just one bad lightning strike away from the same disaster.

Funding FEMA, forest management services, and wildfire fighters something that isn't always prioritized and it should be.

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> simply nobody knew how bad

It was a 100 year old C hook that caused the fire. Which failed in high winds. Which drove the fire. It was PG&E's responsibility to know "how bad" this was. They literally lost track of their own transmission lines.

If it wasn’t that, wouldn’t it have been a lightning strike, or something else? Fundamentally, the problem is that the houses were in an area that has become incredibly flammable. It’s not all PG&E’s fault.

Those have been known to start smaller fires before. Management strategies for them and recognition of the conditions that give rise to them were implemented. This fire burned worse than before because of poor maintenance on and around the line and because they did not shut it off quickly enough to prevent additional damage. The line was in a remote location and access to it was severely degraded.

Fundamentally the problem can be solved with management and engineering. It's entirely PG&E's fault. This was adjudicated and settled.

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