WATCH: Santa Rosa Mayor Addresses Tubbs Fire Report From Cal Fire

SANTA ROSA, CA — Regarding Cal Fire's release Thursday of its Tubbs Fire Investigation Report, city of Santa Rosa Mayor Tom Schwedhelm at 3:30 p.m. Friday gave a brief statement and took a few questions from the media in a press conference outside Santa Rosa City Hall.

Although Cal Fire pointed to PG&E equipment and/or power lines as the culprit in 12 of the other major wildfires that along with the Tubbs Fire made up the October 2017 Northern California Fire Siege, the agency found private — not PG&E — electrical equipment to be the cause of the Tubbs Fire.

In Friday's brief press conference, Mayor Schwedhelm expressed disappointment that neither city officials nor the fire department were given a "heads up" from Cal Fire that the report was being released.

The mayor said he got a call from a reporter at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, minutes after Cal Fire released its findings via an emailed statement with a link to an 80-page report. Schwedhelm said because he was not aware ahead of time, he was not prepared to answer that reporter's questions nor any of the others he and fire department officials have since received.

"If the roles were reversed, I would give the other entity a heads up," Schwedhelm said. "... I have no information as to why they chose to release it when they did."

The Tubbs Fire killed 22 people throughout Sonoma County and destroyed more than 3,000 homes within the Santa Rosa city limits alone — in some places decimating entire neighborhoods such as Coffey Park.

After Cal Fire in June pointed to PG&E equipment and/or power lines in 12 of the other major wildfires that broke out the week of Oct. 8-9, 2017 in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Mendocino and Solano counties, the city of Santa Rosa in turn filed a lawsuit against PG&E for compensation.

Several affected residents have also filed suits against the utility company, as has the county of Sonoma.

Friday, Mayor Schwedhelm said it was "absolutely too soon" to comment on the conclusion reached by Cal Fire about the Tubbs Fire.

Schwedhelm said the city's litigation against PG&E was continuing at this point, with City Council expected to meet in closed session Tuesday to further discuss the matter with the city's legal counsel.

"We will be reading the report and at some point we will be updating the community and the media about our findings," Schwedhelm said, with his hope being the report will contain some answers about the tragic event.

In the meantime, he said "the city of Santa Rosa will continue to be here" for its community members who are still recovering and rebuilding.

News surrounding Cal Fire's report may have triggered emotions for some people, the mayor said. He is encouraging anyone who is struggling to call crisis counselors at the hotline, 707-608-8805.

• RELATED: Cause Of Deadly Tubbs Fire Released By Cal Fire

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