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DISASTERS

California officials: Faulty hot tub caused deadly 2015 fire

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - This Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015 file photo shows flames burn near gas lines at a destroyed apartment complex in Middletown, Calif. A hot tub’s faulty wiring ignited one of California’s most destructive wildfires, a blaze that killed four people, sent four firefighters to the hospital and destroyed more than 1,300 homes last year, officials said Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg,File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - This Sept. 13, 2015 file photo shows a carport frame and burned cars that remain outside an apartment complex destroyed by fire Middletown, Calif. A hot tub’s faulty wiring ignited one of California’s most destructive wildfires, a blaze that killed four people, sent four firefighters to the hospital and destroyed more than 1,300 homes last year, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - This Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015 file photo shows flames burn near gas lines at a destroyed apartment complex in Middletown, Calif. A hot tub’s faulty wiring ignited one of California’s most destructive wildfires, a blaze that killed four people, sent four firefighters to the hospital and destroyed more than 1,300 homes last year, officials said Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg,File) (The Associated Press)

SAN FRANCISCO – California officials say a hot tub's faulty wiring is to blame for one of the state's most destructive wildfires, a blaze that killed four people and destroyed more than 1,300 homes last year.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection released a detailed report Wednesday into the cause of the 120-square-mile wildfire that devastated a large portion of rural Lake County and parts of Napa County about 90 miles north of San Francisco in September 2015.

Investigators say the hot tub wiring wasn't installed in accordance with building codes.

The Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://tinyurl.com/gkpqu9l ) that he's considering whether to file criminal charges.

The fire was the state's third most destructive and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and businesses.
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