- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Valley fire: Efforts under way to assess, repair damaged infrastructure
SOUTH LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – State and local agencies are working throughout the area impacted by the Valley fire to get a handle on the amount of damage that the fire has done to critical community infrastructure.
The Valley fire's level of destruction prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for the county, just weeks after he had made a similar declaration due to the Rocky fire.
The full extent of the Valley fire's destruction likely won't be fully measured for some time to come.
Cal Fire reported that its assessment teams are continuing to work their way through the fire's massive footprint, working around areas of the fire that are still active.
One of the critical issues is damage to power infrastructure.
Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman Jeff Smith, stationed in Middletown this week with a host of crews, said the company did not yet have a dollar figure on damage to the power transmission system, although he added, “The financial impacts are large.”
Because the fire remains active, “We’ve been able to assess only about 60 percent of the area that’s been impacted,” he said.
Smith said that as of Wednesday, 7,200 PG&E customers remained without power as a result of the fire.
“We have well over 500 crews responding here in the area,” he said.
PG&E crews have reset more than 150 poles, identified 520 transmission poles that will need to be repaired and 700 trees that will need to be removed, Smith said.
He said some of the poles have completely disintegrated because of the heat of the fire.
Smith did not have an estimate of how much damaged power lines will need to be replaced.
“We’re continuing to work to assess as much as we can,” he said.
He added, “This is not so much a restoration as it is a reconstruction.”
As for when power might be restored to PG&E's south county customers, Smith said on Wednesday that, at that point, it was too early to say.
“We’re working very closely with Cal Fire on that,” he said.
Smith said PG&E has the safety of the public and employees as its priority, and making sure areas are safe before restoring power is key.
PG&E wants to make sure it has the necessary services in place before community members return home, Smith said.
He asked people to be mindful of the need to use extraordinary caution when they do return home, as they will be confronted with a host of potential hazards.
For one, trees that look healthy on top may no longer be safe because of having burned at the bottom of their trunks, he said.
Also working to make repairs through the fire area are crews with Caltrans District 1.
Caltrans staffers are working cooperatively with other agencies to help save the communities, keep the public safe and make repairs to infrastructure, according to District 1 spokeswoman Betsy Totten said
“The initial estimate for the cost of roadway repairs is $15 million,” Totten said.
She said Caltrans has begun the mop up process on Highway 29 and Highway 175. That work includes removing burning and damaged trees near the roadways, slope stabilization, drainage debris removal and replacement, and replacing burned pavement and hundreds of damaged signs.
A viaduct on Highway 175 that had burned timbers holding it up is being repaired, she said.
Caltrans staff is assisting with providing traffic control at points along the roadways through the fire area, Totten said.
In Hidden Valley Lake, officials with the homeowners association are conducting their own assessments in the gated community.
“We didn’t have any real damage to the association property,” said Hidden Valley Lake Association General Manager Cindy Spears.
However, residents still hadn't been able to return home as of Wednesday evening. Spears said the association is working with Cal Fire and PG&E to determine when it will be safe to let everyone come home, possibly by this weekend.
Regarding county facilities, county spokeswoman Mireya Turner said there is some minor damage to the roof of the Middletown Library and senior center.
“That was just from embers landing on the roof and damaging the rubber base,” she said.
With Wednesday's rain, she said there were concerns that there could be some additional damage to the roof.
Turner said the Callayomi County Water District also has sustained serious fire damage.
Public Works Assistant Director Lars Ewing said his department is looking at the condition of county-maintained bridges, roadways and other infrastructure.
“Right now we’re still in response/recovery mode,” Ewing said.
With the exception of three timber bridges, all of the bridges within the fire lines are either steel or concrete, which Ewing said means they're less likely to be damaged.
One of the timber bridges, on Harbin Springs Road, within the Harbin Hot Springs Resort, has completely collapsed, said Ewing. He said the bridge and the road are maintained by the county.
In the long term, there is a place for replacing the bridge, Ewing said. “Short term, we will provide a temporary crossing.”
There also are two timber bridges on Seigler Canyon Road. “We were concerned about those,” he said. “They have not been damaged.”
Ewing said there has been damage to guardrails, signs and culverts.
“There's going to be long-term drainage problems as a result of this,” he added.
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