PG&E Zogg Fire Hearings: Day 6 | Blog Updates

REDDING, Calif. — ABC10 is in court, where day 6 of PG&E’s Zogg Fire manslaughter hearing is underway. To catch up on day 5 of coverage, click HERE.

This blog will be updated as the court hearing continues.

2:57 p.m. PST

And we're done much earlier than expected today. Shasta County DA is not yet prepared to rest--there's an outstanding issue of the admission of some pieces of evidence. But it looks like the PG&E team's defense will begin tomorrow.

2:41 p.m. PST

Judge rules in PG&E team's favor on air quality counts. Says he thinks the DA would be "unable to prove" that PG&E *emitted* pollutants. They may have been able to prove that PG&E's actions *caused* them to be emitted. Misdemeanor Counts 18-27 are now out of the hearing.

2:35 p.m. PST

Central argument of PG&E atty. Cravis is that PG&E's equipment did not "emit" the air contaminants, but rather the fire did, and therefore PG&E should not be held liable.

2:31 p.m. PST

Chief Deputy DA Hanna argues the statue does apply in their case. By the "clear meaning of the word emit," PG&E did emit air pollutants, he says, and PG&E team is "reading too far" into the statute.

2:28 p.m. PST

PG&E atty. Cravis says the language of the statute in question is intended for stationary emitters like factories, not for the type of air pollution that came from the Zogg Fire. 

2:22 p.m. PST

Fuentes is done. PG&E team now asking to dismiss all air contaminant charges because they argue PG&E did not "emit" contaminants, citing this legal code and now going into the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of "emit."

2:20 p.m. PST

PG&E team attempting to cast doubt on Fuentes' expertise regarding hazard trees, reading from the transcript of the DA Investigator's interview with him where he said he might "not be the person" to answer questions about hazard trees.

2:11 p.m. PST

PG&E cross-exam: Chief Fuentes says he joined Utility Fire Mitigation in 2019, and did some work on the 2020 revision to the Fire Prevention Field Guide (the 2008 version, which was in effect for many years, is in evidence), but not the section on "Hazard Trees."

2:06 p.m. PST

DA is asking Chief Fuentes about the Power Line Fire Prevention Field Guide. They move it into evidence and it's received.

2:01 p.m. PST

Now: Jeff Fuentes, with CAL FIRE's Utility Fire Mitigation unit.

1:58 p.m. PST

PG&E atty. asks a rapid-fire series of questions about Houston's interviews with PG&E employees that we've heard about before, wherein employees said preventing wildfires is important to PG&E and related challenges of vegetation management. Then Houston is done.

1:51 p.m. PST

The Ponder Fire was approx. 5x5 feet, Houston says. To be clear, nobody died in the Ponder, Daniel, or Woody Fires.

1:50 p.m. PST

On to the Ponder Fire. Houston says he did not conduct the investigation, does not know if the investigating engineer is aware of any witnesses to the start of the fire, nor if the investigating engineer was aware of evidence of damage to the pole before the fire.

1:41 p.m. PST

PG&E team cross-examining Houston now. Asking about the Senior Criminalist from CA Dept. of Justice that examined the piece of bark from the subject tree for paint. Is it possible the subject tree was never marked with paint? Houston: "Yes."

1:31 p.m. PST

And we are back for the afternoon session of the PG&E Zogg Fire manslaughter hearing.

11:55 a.m. PST