As part of its response to California’s tree mortality crisis, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will conduct low-flying helicopter patrols in Plumas County on Tuesday, June 20th to identify dead trees that could pose a wildfire or other public safety risk.
Flights will occur over communities along Highway 89 between Greenville and East Quincy, as well as Meadow Valley, and along Highway 70 from Virginia to The Greenville Wye. Depending on clear weather conditions, flights will occur between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Residents are advised that the helicopter will fly low – about 200 to 300 feet – along distribution power lines, and higher in areas where livestock are present.
“Even with the recent winter storms, five years of drought in California have caused millions of trees to die or become structurally compromised. That’s why we are taking extraordinary measures to help keep the communities we serve safe,” said Kamran Rasheed, manager, PG&E vegetation management.
Every year, PG&E patrols and inspects all 134,000 miles of its overhead electric lines. Since the tree mortality crisis began, the energy company has been inspecting trees along power lines in high fire-danger areas a second time, six months after its annual patrol because weakened trees can die quickly and could fall into power lines and cause an outage or fire.
Last year, PG&E conducted second patrols on 68,000 miles of power line, and in 2017, expects to patrol 73,000 miles of line a second time. The company will patrol about 10,750 of those miles by helicopter.
PG&E is using a contract helicopter service to fly foresters over the area to inspect trees. Patrolling by air allows the company to cover many miles quickly and efficiently, and reduces impacts on the ground.
If patrols identify dead trees, PG&E will send inspectors on foot to verify a tree is dead, and then contact the home or land owner to schedule removal.
