California Wildfires Cause Power Outage to 361,000 Residents

By Mary Anne R. Oct 26 2020, 01:38 AM EDT

California Wildfires Cause Power Outage to Hundreds of People — A community of forest homes lies in ruins along Auberry Road in the Meadow Lakes area after the Creek Fire swept through on September 8, 2020 near Shaver Lake, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in five California counties after record heatwave temperatures fueled numerous wildfires over the Labor Day weekend. The state of emergency applies to Fresno, Madera and Mariposa, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

Hundreds of residents have experienced power outages in several California counties on Sunday.

Weather forecasters predicted the most powerful winds of the year and the possibility for more raging wildfires, officials said.

Pacific Gas & Electric had shut off electricity to 225,000 customers by Sunday night, according to Mark Quinlan, the utility company's incident commander.

An additional of 136,000 residents were seen to lose power by midnight, according to NBC News report.

Over 36 counties are seen to be affected by the power outages, Quinlan added.

The company earlier pleaded guilty for causing the state's deadliest wildfire.

Pacific Gas & Electric has already taken to shutting off its electrical grid to prevent its equipment from causing new fires.

The company's meteorologist, Scott Strenfel, said that unfortunately, the event is going to transpire as expected.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service earlier said that strongest winds of the year were expected in some areas in California through Monday.

NWS placed Northern California under its highest-risk wildfire alert due to low humidity and tinder-dry vegetation.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California-Los Angeles, said that this is the fire weather forecast he was hoping would not come to pass.

Any moisture from coastal air will be blown out to the Pacific Ocean with the offshore movement of the air.

"Have a plan in place if you need to evacuate with little/no notice. While Fire Season 2020 has already been historic from the countless lightning-based ignitions in August, remember that peak offshore wind season is right now for much of the Golden State," NWD was quoted in a Washington Post report.

California Wildfire Victims

Meanwhile, those who are affected by the damages done by California wildfires will have an extension for their tax filing.

Filing tax returns and payments began on Sept. 4. Victims of the wildfire have until Jan. 15, 2021.

The Internal Revenue Service has offered relief to any areas qualified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individual assistance.

Some of the counties included are Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, and Mendocino.

San Bernardino, San Diego and Siskiyou counties in California are also included.

However, tax payers in localities added later to the disaster area will be automatically included in payment relief, according to a Forbes report.

The report said that this relief is separate from the relief provided for the California wildfires which started on Aug. 14.

Those who are qualified, but live outside the disaster area, would need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.

Workers assisting the relief are also included, particularly those affiliated with a government or philanthropic organization.

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom earlier announced that U.S. President Donald Trump has reversed his administration's decision on providing wildfire aid to California.

The Trump administration initially rejected California's request for a major disaster declaration.

With the wildfire relief approval, it would allow for cost-sharing for damage, cleanup, and rebuilding between the state and federal governments.

This would also reactivate relief programs led by FEMA.