IGO, Calif. — About a month after Cal Fire investigators seized parts from a PG&E power pole near the origin of the deadly Zogg Fire, the entire pole slowly rose into the air while prosecutors, state regulators, and ABC10 all watched.
A helicopter contracted by PG&E plucked power poles from the earth and hoisted chunks of dead tree using straps and cargo nets.
No one asked PG&E to collect the evidence left over by the criminal investigation of PG&E’s power line along Zogg Mine Road.
PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo told us that the company took the poles, wires, and tree parts out of “an abundance of caution.”
PG&E ignored ABC10's repeated requests to review copies of the contracts it entered into with the third-party companies doing evidence collection work on this fire.
We do not know how much money PG&E has spent to collect evidence on the scene, but we do know that workers have been on the site for weeks now since Cal Fire released its crime scene.
PG&E UNDER HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION AGAIN
The Shasta County District Attorney is investigating PG&E as the only suspect. If criminal charges are filed, District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said homicide charges may apply.
Earlier this year, PG&E was convicted of the largest corporate homicide in US history for illegally sparking the 2018 Camp Fire through criminal negligence, the result of reckless disregard of its duty to maintain a high-tension line for safety.
The Zogg Fire tore through the hills above Redding on September 27, destroying homes and killing four people who couldn’t escape.
The victims included the daughter and wife of 31-year-old Zach McLeod.
Eight-year-old Feyla McLeod and her mother Alaina were found dead in their pickup truck.
Zach McLeod told ABC10 he wants Federal Judge William Alsup (who supervises PG&E’s probation for the San Bruno gas explosion) to “look into it very thoroughly” and to take away PG&E’s authority to make life-and-death decisions about fire prevention blackouts “so that the power gets shut off when it needs to get shut off.”
Alsup has been asking PG&E a battery of questions.
PG&E told Alsup that it also plans to dig up the entire root system of the old, dead pine tree suspected of hitting the power line and haul it away by helicopter as well.
WORKERS ATTEMPTED TO BLOCK ACCESS
Two unidentified workers attempted to keep ABC10’s camera further away from the operation -- out of sight from all of the work that took place in the operation.
The two workers refused to identify themselves or their employer. At one point they attempted to block our photographer from using Zogg Mine Road, with one of them standing in the way.
Zogg Mine Road is a public road that was not subject to a closure at the time.
Asked to confirm whether the workers were employed by PG&E and whether PG&E felt it had the right to prevent people from using public roads, PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo replied only that “we have employees and contractors in the area.”
This story is part of ABC10's reporting project FIRE-POWER-MONEY: California's burning crisis and how it's costing us all. Season two will take viewers inside the criminal investigation of the Camp Fire, America's largest-ever corporate homicide conviction. New episodes are scheduled to begin October 29 on ABC10 at 6:30, YouTube, and www.FirePowerMoney.com. Send tips and story ideas to investigative reporter Brandon Rittiman at brittiman@abc10.com