PG&E Corp was cutting power to about 195,000 people across Northern California in an attempt to keep its power lines from sparking wildfires amid another round of extreme heat, dry weather and high winds. Blazes still erupted, triggering evacuations and burning thousands of hectares.
As temperatures soared past 32°C on Sunday, PG&E, the utility giant that went bankrupt last year after its equipment ignited catastrophic blazes, began a shutoff that was to leave parts of 16 counties out of power until the end of yesterday.
The US National Weather Service had said that the risk of wildfires across the region would increase late on Saturday evening and remain through yesterday.
Photo: AFP
“The combination of wind, low humidity and hot conditions will result in extreme fire weather conditions,” the weather service said.
Temperatures in parts of Southern California were forecast to reach as high as 40.6°C through Thursday.
It is the latest hardship for a state that has been battered this year by increasingly extreme weather brought on by climate change and ensuing blackouts.
Last month, a record-breaking heat wave triggered California’s first rotating power outages since the 2001 energy crisis — and was followed just three weeks later by another one.
More than 8,000 wildfires have burned a record 1.5 million hectares in the state this year, choking cities with smoke, killing at least 26 people and destroying more than 7,000 structures.
In Napa County, the Glass Fire broke out early on Sunday and was raging uncontrollably, scorching at least 1,012 hectares. The Zogg Fire in Shasta County had burned 2,833 hectares. Both prompted evacuations.
Butte County also issued an immediate evacuation order for some communities due to the ongoing North Complex Fire.
Utilities across the US West are increasingly cutting power ahead of wind storms to reduce the chances of their live wires igniting blazes.
In Southern California, investigators are looking at a power line owned by Edison International’s Southern California Edison as part of their probe into a fire that is burning in the mountains near Los Angeles.
Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric that it might also have to turn off power to 700 customers in the mountainous areas of San Diego county due to the expected arrival of Santa Ana winds.
PG&E’s latest round of power cuts would have affected about 65,000 homes and businesses, or about 195,000 people based on the size of the average California household.
The first cuts began early on Sunday. A second round was planned for later in the night, PG&E said in a briefing.
The outages are considerably smaller in scope than previous ones. Earlier this month, PG&E cut power to about 172,000 homes and businesses — or about 516,000 people — as high winds raked California.
PG&E emerged from bankruptcy in July after settling wildfire claims for US$25.5 billion.
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