California Is Getting Ready for Power Shutoffs and Hot, Windy Weekend

By Madelaine D. Sep 26 2020, 07:05 AM EDT

California firefighters are getting ready for hot, dry, and windy weather in the state's northern and central areas this weekend that may fan the blazes of some major wildfires or ignite new ones.

Officials of the state's largest utility company are also preparing for the said weather conditions.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is monitoring the weather to determine if it would be necessary to shut off power to areas where gusts could damage the firm's equipment or hurl debris into lines that can ignite flammable vegetation.

PG&E warned Friday that it might cut power from Sunday morning to Monday. The power shutoffs may affect 97,000 consumers in 16 counties.

Forecasters expect a ridge of high pressure will raise temperatures and generate gusts flowing from the interior to the coast on the weekend.

PG&E initially warned that approximately 21,000 customers in three counties would lose power starting Saturday evening. But the areas that may experience power shutoffs may still expand when the forecast changes, as per AJC.

California Getting Ready for Power Shutoffs and Hot, Windy Weekend — Apple Fire In Southern California Forces Evacuations CHERRY VALLEY, CA - AUGUST 01: Flames and heavy smoke approach on a western front of the Apple Fire, consuming brush and forest at a high rate of speed during an excessive heat warning on August 1, 2020 in Cherry Valley, California. The fire began shortly before 5 p.m. the previous evening, threatening a large number of homes overnight and forcing thousands to flee before exploding to 12,000 acres this afternoon, mostly climbing the steep wilderness slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains. David McNew/

PG&E cut power to about 167,000 businesses and homes in central and Northern California in a more targeted approach when heavy winds were predicted earlier this month.

Last year, the company was criticized for acting too broadly when it blacked out two million customers to prevent fires.

PG&E equipment has sparked massive wildfires in the past, including the fire that destroyed much of the Sierra foothills town of Paradise and killed 85 people in 2018.

On Friday, firefighters battling California's largest wildfire braced for the change in weather by building fuel breaks to keep flames from reaching the marijuana-growing enclave.

Authorities said many of the locals here have refused to evacuate and abandon their maturing crops.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the wildfire called the August Complex is getting closer to the small communities of Trinity Pines and Post Mountain.

Law enforcement officers conducted door-to-door to warn residents of the encroaching fire danger. However, they could not force the residents to leave the place.

"It's mainly growers. And a lot of them, they don't want to leave because that is their livelihood," said Nate Trujillo, Trinity County Sheriff's Department Deputy.

Almost 1,000 people remained in Trinity Pines and Post Mountain, based on residents and authorities' estimates on Thursday.

In recent years, several studies have linked widespread U.S wildfires to global warming from the burning of oil, coal, and gas, mainly because climate change has made California much drier. A drier state means there are more flammable plants.

The U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region announced Friday that it is extending the closure of all nine national forests in California because of some concerns, including fire conditions and critical limitations on firefighting resources.

The threatened marijuana growing area is in the Emerald Triangle, a three-county corner of Northern California that by some estimate it to be the country's largest cannabis-producing region.

Those familiar with Trinity Pines said the community has almost 40 legal farms with more than 10 times that number in hidden, illegal growing areas.