Just seems odd to me. Other than an occasional blown transformer or tree taking down a line, I've never heard of power lines that were just sitting there causing a fire. Now lightning, car wrecks, railroads, or maybe a Boy Scout, yes. Is this something a politician thought up or what?
One would think high income folks down in those zones would carry some insurance.
As to the most significant impact, business essentially shuts down. One can't purchase anything or buy fuel. I suppose every office worker will spend the day sitting in the dark looking at their blank computer screen. The expense of a shutdown like that should easily cover the cost of a potential fire.
From my admittedly poor memory I recall that the Camp fire was blamed on a combination of sagging power lines that touched trees due to a hot spell and demands for power (again due to the hot spell) heating up the lines (I^2R loss?).
