PG&E crews working in North Bay to remove felled trees from 2020 wildfires

by Kiley Russell, Bay City News Foundation July 28, 2021July 27, 2021

A vineyard is threatened by advancing flames during the September 2020 LNU Lightning Complex Fire. PG&E removed and chipped a number of smaller trees following the blaze, but now the utility is working with property owners to dispose of larger trees that were also removed but left on site. (Photo by Cal Fire Official/Flickr)

PG&E crews are going back over areas affected by the Glass and LNU fires of 2020 in order to remove trees that were cut down for safety.

After those fires, the company inspected and cut down trees that it determined were a threat to electric equipment or to crews working to restore power.

Trees that were smaller than 4 inches in diameter were chipped and spread on-site, but larger trees were left, according to PG&E officials.

“In response to customer and community feedback, crews will return to those sites and dispose of the large-diameter wood that PG&E crews cut down for safety following the 2020 wildfires, if safely accessible and approved by the property owner,” company officials said in a news release.

The Glass Fire burned more than 67,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties in September 2020 and the LNU Lightning Complex Fire burned more than 363,000 acres in Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake and Yolo counties in August of the same year.

Get a slice of the Bay Area with our weekly newsletters!