PG&E considers cutting power amid Bay Area fire risk
As firefighters try to control destructive wildfires in Southern California, an exceptionally dry winter in the Bay Area has prompted forecasters to warn of ripe fire conditions over the weekend and the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to consider the drastic move of cutting off power in some areas to guard against blazes.
The National Weather Service upgraded a fire weather watch in the North Bay mountains and East Bay hills to a red flag warning — a more severe notice to be on alert for wildfires. The warning, which was to go into effect at 10 p.m. Friday, will run through 10 a.m. Sunday.
A combination of breezy conditions, dry air and little rainfall in the region prompted the notice, said Charles Bell, a meteorologist with
the weather service.
“The three factors are coming together to produce the potential for explosive fire growth,” Bell said.
The risks are high enough that PG&E on Friday warned that it may take a step it has long resisted — switching off power lines to prevent wildfires.
The utility giant reported that it may turn off some lines if winds grow extreme. Although San Diego’s electricity utility has used the practice for years, PG&E has avoided it, because it may mean cutting off power to police and fire stations or hospitals.
But after the devastating wildfires that hit Northern California in October and Southern California this month, PG&E decided the step may be necessary.
“Safety is our top priority, and we’re constantly evaluating the impacts shutting off power can have on customers and critical first responder services in an emergency,” said company spokesman Greg Snapper.
So far, he said, the forecast does not show an immediate need to switch off any electrical lines. But the utility, which maintains its own meteorology department, will keep an eye on conditions.
PG&E also has taken the precaution of reprogramming devices called reclosers, which automatically try to restart power lines that switch off for an unknown reason.
While reclosers can prevent or shorten blackouts, they can cause a fire if they try to restart a line that has been knocked down in a windstorm or has come in contact with tree branches. So this weekend, PG&E has reprogrammed its reclosers in some areas to make sure they don’t try to restart power lines at risk of starting fires.
PG&E’s fire-safety practices have come under intense scrutiny since several wind-driven fires swept through the Wine Country in October, killing 44 people and reducing entire neighborhoods to ash.
Although investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, have not announced a cause for any of the Northern California blazes, many homeowners have already filed suit against PG&E, accusing the utility of improperly maintaining and running its equipment. Many California wildfires in the past have been traced back to power lines falling or arcing during windstorms.
Wind gusts this weekend are forecast to reach more than 50 mph in the North Bay mountains and East Bay hills. Relative humidity over the weekend should be around 15 percent or less. On a normal day, humidity is 60 to 80 percent, Bell said.
The blustery winds are expected to blow air pollution out of the region. Poor air-quality in the area led officials to issue the eighth Spare the Air alert this winter. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District banned wood burning Friday as a temperature inversion has allowed air pollution to build up. San Francisco recorded “unhealthy” air quality levels Friday morning, the fourth in severity of six air quality levels.
Fire weather in December is not unprecedented, Bell said, attributing this year’s conditions to a weak La Niña pattern that’s causing a drier than normal winter in Southern California and the Bay Area.
The Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties has blackened more than 252,000 acres since starting Dec. 4, its rapid spread fueled by Santa Ana winds and dry conditions.
The blaze is one of multiple wildfires to ignite in Southern California this month. The fires have destroyed nearly 1,000 structures and damaged more than 200 others.
A firefighter for Cal Fire, Cory Iverson, 32, was killed Thursday while battling the Thomas Fire near Fillmore (Ventura County). Iverson, who is survived by his pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter, was an engineer for Cal Fire’s San Diego unit.
Iverson’s death was the second attributed to the Thomas Fire. A 70-year-old woman was found dead in her car in the initial days of the blaze, and authorities believe she was killed trying to escape the fire.
The Thomas Fire, now the fourth largest in California history, was 35 percent contained Friday. Two other major fires in the region — the 15,619-acre Creek Fire in Los Angeles County and the 4,100-acre Lilac Fire in San Diego County — are nearly 100 percent contained. The Rye Fire in Los Angeles County reached 100 percent containment earlier this week.
“Typically, the time of the year we often see the greatest potential of fire growth is October into November,” Bell said. “What’s a little unusual this year is just we’ve had so little rainfall. If we had a lot of rainfall we wouldn’t be so concerned about it.”
There is no chance of rain for the area in the next 10 days, Bell said.
“Right now, in San Francisco, we’ve picked up two hundredths of an inch,” Bell said of December’s rainfall total. “If we don’t get any additional rainfall, this will be the third-driest December ever.”
The one positive, Bell said, is the lower temperatures in December. Highs should be in the 60s instead of the 80s recorded during the Wine Country fires.
Red flag warnings abounded during the destructive Northern California fires, called the October Fire Siege, that began Oct. 8 and destroyed nearly 9,000 structures.