Wind-whipped fires rage across California as lights go out
GEYSERVILLE— Fast-growing fires throughout California forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes Thursday as dry winds and high heat fed flames and fears in the state still jittery from devastating wildfires in the past two years.
The dramatic fires and evacuations — near Los Angeles and in the wine country of Northern California — came against a backdrop of power shuto s that utility companies said were necessary to stop high winds from toppling trees or blowing debris into power lines and starting fires.
The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., warned that more widespread blackouts this weekend were expected to shut power across much of the San Francisco Bay Area. It would be the third major outage this month.
Officials said they did not yet know how many homes had burned in the state, and that no immediate injuries were reported.
It is not clear how any of the blazes began.
In Southern California, two fires rolled along the parched foothills north of Los Angeles, forcing at least 40,000 people to flee neighborhoods where thousands of homes have sprung up in recent decades.
Several homes burned as the blazes swept through dry brush to the edge of communities in the Santa Clarita area. Winds gusting to about 40 mph pushed the flames, and enormous plumes of smoke were visible for miles. People used hoses to try to protect their properties.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said Thursday evening there was no containment of either blaze.
Hot and dry Santa Ana winds led Southern California Edison to cut power to more than 27,000 customers. It was considering additional power cuts to more than 386,000 customers.
In Northern California wine country, authorities ordered 2,000 people to evacuate as a wildfire burned 49 buildings and exploded to 25 square miles, whipped up by the strong winds that had prompted PG&E to impose blackouts across the region. It was 5 percent contained.
The outages affected half a million people or nearly 180,000 customers in 17 counties, most of whom lost power Wednesday afternoon and had it restored by Thursday evening,
PG&E official Keith Stephens said.
While the cause of fire wasn’t yet determined PG&E reported a problem with a transmission tower near the spot where the fire ignited.
The company filed a report with the state utilities commission saying it found a “broken jumper” on a transmission tower around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday; it was in the same area where the fire started minutes later.
PG&E CEO Bill Johnson said it was too soon to know if the faulty equipment started the fire outside Geyserville.
He said the tower was 43 years old, which is not uncommon in the industry, and had been inspected four times in the past two years and appeared to have been in “excellent condition.”