1. Powering forward. Together.
King Fire Impacts on SMUD Hydro
Operations
Grant Nelson, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
17 February, 2015
2. • UARP description
• King Fire statistics
• King Fire impacts on
SMUD hydro
operations
• Mitigation of fire
impacts
• Costs
• Lessons learned
Agenda
3.
4. King Fire Statistics
• Started by arsonist on
September 13, 2014
– 100% containment on
October 9
• Over 97,700 acres burned
• Records set:
– Fifteen mile spread in 6 hours
– 23% of burn area suffered
high soil burn severity
– 210,000 gallons of retardant
dropped in one day
– >8,000 personnel at peak
• From as far as Florida and
Minnesota
5. King Fire Statistics, continued
• 21,000 homes threatened
• Twelve homes destroyed
• 2,830 people evacuated
• Twelve firefighters injured
• Over 640,000 total
gallons of retardant used
• 329-miles of fire line cut
• Five SMUD employees
evacuated from their
homes
12. Fire Impacts to UARP
• Wood poles burned on 4 kV
feeder line to Brush Creek
• Loss of station service power
due to transmission
shutdown
• Debris flows and erosion
• Fiber optic and conductors
on penstock damaged
13. Fire Impacts to UARP, continued
• Communication link to
remote gauging stations lost
– Daily manual compliance
reads required
• Mandatory evacuation of
hydro O&M facility
– Critical equipment relocated
prior to evacuation
• Increased post-fire traffic on
narrow, winding area roads
– SMUD
– Contractors
– USFS
Temporary antenna for gauging telemetry
14. Fire Impacts to UARP
Jaybird Powerhouse
Access Road After First Rain
15. Fire Impacts to UARP
Fiber Optic/Power Cables on
Penstock
Fallen Tree Takes Out Gauging
Station Communication System
(Propane Tanks Survive!)
23. Mitigation Efforts
• SMUD has entered into a Collection
Agreement with Forest Service for
Helimulching
– Chopped weed-free straw applied by helicopter
– Slopes from 15% to 60% with high burn intensity
to be treated
– Treatment of approximately 250 acres in Brush
Creek Drainage
– Projected reduction in sediment yield is 6000 tons
24. Mitigation Efforts, continued
• Hazard tree removal
– Along transmission RoW
– Adjacent to SMUD facilities
– Behind SMUD gates
• Transmission RoW fire line reseeded
– Seed mixture approved by the Forest Service
• Roadside ditches and culverts cleaned after each
storm
• Forest Service Burned Area Emergency
Response (BAER) Team performed drainage
improvements along selected roads
25. SMUD’s Recovery Costs
Scope Cost ($)
Hazard Tree Removal $1,565,000
Fiber and 4 kV Line Replacement $1,002,000
Penstock fiber and cable replacement $380,000
Road Clearing $86,000
Transmission Related Costs $535,000
Helimulching $360,000
Other $350,000
Total $4,478,000
26. • Expand upon FERC-required EAP requirements
to include disasters beyond dam failure
• Be prepared to operate from remote location(s)
• Prepare contingency plans for
– Trapped personnel
– Non-functioning generation and/or
transmission
– O&M facility evacuation
• Have alternate staging area for key personnel and
equipment
Lessons Learned
27. • Ensure all personnel contact info is current
• Train ICP/EOC liaisons
– Incident Command System familiarity
– Company protocols and procedures
– Facility familiarity including transmission and
feeder lines
– Familiarity with local OES personnel
Lessons Learned, continued
28. • The King Fire was
devastating and
record-setting
• Fortunately, no loss
of human life
• All things
considered, impact
to SMUD not too
severe
Conclusions
