San Diego utility had a power line outage near ignition point of Norte fire

San Diego Gas & Electric equipment experienced an outage near the origin of the Norte fire in San Clemente two minutes before the blaze broke out, according to an online post on the company’s website on Friday.

The utility on Saturday confirmed the outage via email but gave no details, such as the time, the circuit and the exact location.

However, the online post, captured on a screen grab, shows that SDG&E distribution line Circuit 197 sustained an outage at 11:31 a.m. close to the ignition site of the wind-whipped fire that damaged or destroyed at least six homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents on Friday, October 16.

The blaze was first reported at 11:33 a.m. in the area of Portico Del Norte in San Clemente, the Orange County Fire Authority posted Friday on X. That was just after the outage, affecting 496 customers.

Based on what we’re seeing, it’s very consistent with the probability that their equipment was related to the ignition of the fire,” said Newport Beach lawyer Richard Bridgford, who specializes in wildfire cases and supplied the screen shot from SDG&E’s website. “The stars are aligned with what we’ve seen in prior utility-caused fires.”