Millions face more blackouts, fire danger in California
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Millions of Californians were preparing to live in the dark again as the state’s largest utility warned it may cut power for the third time in as many weeks because of looming strong winds and high fire danger.
Pacific Gas & Electric will decide today whether to blackout 850,000 homes and businesses in 36 counties for 48 hours or longer throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, wine country and Sierra foothills.
The two previous shutdowns were done amid concern that gusty winds could foul or knock down power lines and spark devastating wildfires.
Weather forecasts called for record strong winds to lash much of the region over the weekend, with some gusts hitting 85 mph.
PG&E’s warning came as firefighters battled flames in Northern and Southern California. A blaze on Thursday destroyed at least six homes in the Santa Clarita area near Los Angeles and prompted evacuation orders for up to 50,000 residents, although some were allowed back home Friday night after Santa Ana winds began to ease.
To the north, firefighters raced to make progress against a blaze near Geyserville in Sonoma County before ferocious “diablo winds” returned.
The fire had burned 49 buildings, including 21 homes, and swept through 96 square kilometers of the wine-growing region.
Several thousand people living in small communities in neighboring Lake County were warned Friday
night to be ready to evacuate if an order is given.
The area was the scene of a 2015 wildfire that killed four people and burned nearly 2,000 homes and other buildings.
High winds this weekend could ground water-dropping aircraft, disperse fire retardant and drive hot embers far ahead of the flames to set new blazes, Cal Fire Division Chief Jonathan Cox said.
“You can’t fight a fire that’s spotting ahead of itself a quarter of a mile, half a mile, in some cases a mile ahead of itself,” he said.
No cause has been determined for any of the current fires, but PG&E said a 230,000-volt transmission line near Geyserville had malfunctioned minutes before that fire erupted Wednesday night.