RANDI ROSSMANN AND WILL SCHMITT
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The 10,000‑acre Kincade fire started inside The Geysers, a sprawling complex of geothermal energy facilities nestled in the mountains between Sonoma and Lake counties, but how it started — and whether power lines were involved — remained under investigation Thursday.
The fire was first reported at 9:26 p.m., when 10 engines were sent to a vegetation fire in The Geysers on John Kincade Road at Burned Mountain Road near a small power plant, according to dispatch reports.
The report noted there were “possible power lines down in the area” and warned firefighters to be aware of the potential threat.
By 9:53 p.m., firefighters knew they would not be able to contain the fire and needed to start evacuations, the radio traffic indicated.
The Geysers is a geothermal power operation on 45 square miles in the remote Mayacamas Mountains above Healdsburg and Geyserville. It includes more than a dozen individual power plants, mostly in northern Sonoma County with a few in Lake County.
Firefighters had not determined Thursday whether the blaze was ignited by power lines, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Marshall Turbeville said. State investigators typically take months to pinpoint the cause of major fires and announce their findings.
Turbeville said he had heard that a building could be involved, but there wasn’t enough information yet to know exactly how the fire started — and whether it originated from the building or the power lines, or, started elsewhere and overtook them as it spread.
Turbeville, one of the first to reach the fire, headed up Pine Flat Road with firefighters and entered the geothermal property through locked gates to get closer to the blaze, which he estimated was several hundred acres.
It was not clear Thursday whether PG&E had turned off power to the area of The Geysers where the fire ignited, said Deanna Contreras, PG&E spokeswoman. She referred further questions to Cal Fire.
PG&E shut down power to some 27,000 customers in Sonoma County on Wednesday, part of its plan to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires during hot, dry, windy conditions that can cause flames to spread rapidly. It began restoring power in Sonoma County on Thursday after the winds subsided, but anticipates dangerous fire conditions returning this weekend could lead to another round of blackouts.
Calpine Corp., which operates the largest power facilities in The Geysers, does not believe its equipment caused the Kincade fire, according to a company spokesman.
“The Kincade fire flashed through a portion of our Geysers geothermal facilities late yesterday,” said Calpine spokesman Brett Kerr. “All employees are safe and accounted for. We believe there is relatively minor damage to our facilities and further threat has passed. As safety permits we will conduct a thorough assessment. Some of our operations have been temporarily suspended but we expect production will resume very soon.”
The Geysers is the largest geothermal energy facility in the world. Houston-based Calpine Corp. produces enough electricity to power more than 700,000 homes from its plants on the property. High-voltage power lines carry electricity generated by its steam turbines out to the region’s grid, cutting a path through the rugged Mayacamas Mountains.
Due to windy conditions in the area, The Geysers de-energized its local power line system before the fire broke out, Kerr said. The decision was “consistent with our fire prevention protocols,” he said.
“We do not believe our facilities caused the fire,” he said. “There are power lines operated by third parties across The Geysers.”
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