California fire danger grows with strong winds in forecast
SACRAMENTO — Fire danger in California will ramp up on Monday as forecasted strong winds in Southern California, the Bay Area and parts of the Sierra Nevada has utility companies considering turning off electricity for thousands of customers.
The National Weather Service is predicting gusts of up to 60 mph for the San Francisco Bay Area early today. The strongest winds will be in the hills but could drop down to lower elevations along the coastline from Sonoma County to San Mateo County.
In the Sierra Nevada and Kern County mountains, a red flag warning will be in place starting at 4 a.m. for an area that includes Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park and National Forest and Lake Isabella. Sustained winds of up to 25 mph are predicted, with gusts of near 55 mph are possible in higher elevations.
The high winds could potentially knock down power lines and start wildfires. Pacific Gas and Electric said Friday it was considering preemptively shutting off the power for about 132,000 customers. On Sunday, the company reduced that to 8,500 customers in portions of five counties: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tulare and Tuolumne. If necessary, the shutoffs would begin at 5 a.m.
In Los Angeles, winds were expected to begin late Sunday night and continue through Tuesday evening. The winds should be their strongest this afternoon through Tuesday morning, with gusts up to 55 mph for the coastal and valley areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Southern California Edison said it was considering shutting off power for about 161,000 customers on today and Tuesday in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Tulare and Kern counties.
Firefighters in Orange County had contained about half of a wildfire on Sunday that has destroyed 28 structures while threatening thousands of homes. Fire officials on Sunday said evacuation orders for the Bond Fire in eastern Orange County were being reduced to warnings, allowing all residents to return to their homes.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden has picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, putting a defender of the Affordable Care Act in a leading role to oversee his administration’s coronavirus response.
Separately, Biden picked a Harvard infectious disease expert, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If confirmed by the Senate, Becerra, 62, will be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services, a $1-trillion-plus agency with 80,000 employees and a portfolio that includes drugs and vaccines, leading-edge medical research and health insurance programs covering more than 130 million Americans.
Biden’s selection of Becerra was confirmed by two people familiar with the decision, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement anticipated Tuesday.
Two people also anonymously confirmed the choice of Walensky. The post of CDC director does not require Senate confirmation.
Becerra, as the state of California’s top lawyer, has led the coalition of Democratic states defending “Obamacare” from the Trump administration’s latest effort to overturn it, a legal case awaiting a Supreme Court decision next year.