Current:Home > ScamsCritical fire weather in arrives Northern California’s interior; PG&E cuts power to 8,400 customers-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Critical fire weather in arrives Northern California’s interior; PG&E cuts power to 8,400 customers
lotradecoin partnership announcements View Date:2024-12-25 21:00:47
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gusty winds and low humidity brought high risk of wildfires to the interior of Northern California on Wednesday and a utility proactively cut electricity to approximately 8,400 customers to prevent potential ignitions in the blustery conditions.
Red flag warnings for critical fire danger were to remain in effect until 8 p.m. in much of the Sacramento Valley and adjacent areas to the west, the National Weather Service said.
Pacific Gas & Electric said that shortly before 2 a.m., it began public safety power shutoffs in small portions of eight counties.
Customers in the “targeted high-fire-threat areas” were notified in advance Tuesday, the utility said in a statement.
The gusty northerly winds were generated in the wake of a trough of low pressure that moved through Northern California on Tuesday, the weather service said.
Public safety power shutoffs are intended to prevent fires from starting when power lines are downed by winds or struck by falling trees or windblown debris. Such fires have caused extensive destruction and deaths in California.
The issue of power shutoffs surfaced in Hawaii after the deadly fire that destroyed the Maui community of Lahaina. Maui County claims Hawaiian Electric Company negligently failed to cut power despite high winds and dry conditions. The utility acknowledges its lines started the fire but faults county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene.
Wednesday’s power cuts were PG&E’s first since 2021. PG&E first implemented the shutoffs in 2019, leaving nearly 2 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California without power and drawing fierce criticism.
The utility has since been able to reduce the impact by adding more circuit switches to its grid, allowing it to more precisely determine which customers will lose power, said Paul Moreno, a PG&E spokesperson.
PG&E also added hundreds of weather stations in areas prone to wildfires and now it has nearly 1,500 units that provide information on when fire conditions are present and when those conditions have passed, he said.
California has so far avoided widespread wildfires this year following an extraordinarily wet winter and cool spring that melted the mountain snowpack slowly. Downpours from recent Tropical Storm Hilary further dampened much of the southern half of the state.
Major fires have been limited to the southeastern desert and the lightly populated far northwest corner of the state where lightning ignited many blazes this month.
___
Antczak reported from Los Angeles.
veryGood! (1518)
Related
- Big Georgia county to start charging some costs to people who challenge the eligibility of voters
- 'Monkey Man' review: Underestimate Dev Patel at your own peril after this action movie
- Judge rejects Trump’s First Amendment challenge to indictment in Georgia election case
- Everything You Need To Get Your Feet Toe-tally Ready for Sandal Season
- A stowaway groundhog is elevated to local icon
- Don't stop looking up after the eclipse: 'Devil comet,' pink moon also visible in April
- Mikaela Shiffrin and fellow skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde announce engagement
- London police say suspects in stabbing of Iran International journalist fled U.K. just hours after attack
- Traveling? Here Are the Best Life-Saving Travel Accessories You Need To Pack, Starting at Just $7
- Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline after Wall Street drop on rate cut concerns
Ranking
- White House says deals struck to cut prices of popular Medicare drugs that cost $50 billion yearly
- Judge denies Trump bid to dismiss classified documents prosecution
- Hailey Van Lith enters transfer portal after one season with LSU women's basketball
- 80-year-old American tourist killed in elephant attack during game drive in Zambia
- What Conservation Coalitions Have Learned from an Aspen Tree
- This Los Angeles heist sounds like it came from a thriller novel. Thieves stole $30 million in cash
- Arkansas mom arrested after 7-year-old son found walking 8 miles to school, reports say
- In Alabama Visit, Buttigieg Strays Off The Beaten Path. Will It Help Shiloh, a Flooded Black Community?
Recommendation
-
Ryan Reynolds on his 'complicated' relationship with his dad, how it's changed him
-
Rudy Giuliani can remain in Florida condo, despite judge’s concern with his spending habits
-
5-year-old fatally shot by other child after gun was unsecured at grandparents' Michigan home
-
Pilot says brakes seemed less effective than usual before a United Airlines jet slid off a taxiway
-
The State Fair of Texas is banning firearms, drawing threats of legal action from Republican AG
-
Rebel Wilson Reveals Her Shocking Salaries for Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids
-
18 gunmen and 10 security force members die in clashes in Iran’s southeast, state media reports
-
Shirley Jones' son Shaun Cassidy pays sweet tribute to actress on 90th birthday: 'A lover of life'