California utility says its power lines may have caused 2 wildfires

A California utility reportedly told state regulators Monday its power lines may have caused two wildfires spreading in San Francisco Bay Area, according to The Associated Press. 

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) told the California Public Utilities Commission that a worker who responded to a fire around 4:45 p.m. on Sunday was told that firefighters believed a power and a communication line may have been the cause, according to AP. 

A worker went to another fire around an hour after and saw a fallen pole and transformer, according to AP.{mosads}

The fires described in the PG&E reports match the ones that destroyed a tennis club and forced residents in Lafayette, a town about 22 miles east of San Francisco, to evacuate, according to AP. 

Contra Costa Fire Department told the worker they were looking at the transformer as a potential ignition source, AP reports, citing what a company official wrote. 

PG&E has cut power to about 2.35 million people across 38 counties. 

The spreading fires prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to declare a state of emergency on Sunday, after 30,000 acres in Sonoma County were burned by the Kincade Fire, leading to nearly 200,000 people evacuating. 

The Tick Fire in the southern part of the state prompted tens of thousands of evacuations, Newsom said in his statement.