Bloomberg) -- Nearly 32,000 customers could lose power Sunday as dry, gusty winds whip up critical wildfire conditions across almost 6,000 square miles in Southern California.
The winds gusting as high as 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour could affect mountains and coastal areas, including Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego counties, putting 2.6 million people at risk in 5,774 square miles, the National Weather Service said. About 31,975 customers could have their power turned off because of the fire threat, according to Edison International’s Southern California Edison’s website.
While not as severe, the threat remains elevated through Monday.
“If fire ignition occurs, conditions may be favorable for extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property,” the weather service said.
The state’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., staged four massive blackouts in October to prevent wildfires. PG&E’s equipment caused fires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018, saddling it with an estimated $30 billion in liabilities and eventually forcing it into bankruptcy. It’s strategy of pre-emptive outages this year has drawn anger from customers and state lawmakers who say they’ve gone too far.
California has had little rain for months, and more than 81% of the state is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor in Lincoln, Nebraska. The parched plants and soils, along with the winds called Santa Anas, make fall one of the worst times for fires there.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann
Source:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dry-winds-raise-critical-fire-151749396.html
The winds gusting as high as 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour could affect mountains and coastal areas, including Ventura, Los Angeles and San Diego counties, putting 2.6 million people at risk in 5,774 square miles, the National Weather Service said. About 31,975 customers could have their power turned off because of the fire threat, according to Edison International’s Southern California Edison’s website.
While not as severe, the threat remains elevated through Monday.
“If fire ignition occurs, conditions may be favorable for extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property,” the weather service said.
The state’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., staged four massive blackouts in October to prevent wildfires. PG&E’s equipment caused fires in Northern California in 2017 and 2018, saddling it with an estimated $30 billion in liabilities and eventually forcing it into bankruptcy. It’s strategy of pre-emptive outages this year has drawn anger from customers and state lawmakers who say they’ve gone too far.
California has had little rain for months, and more than 81% of the state is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor in Lincoln, Nebraska. The parched plants and soils, along with the winds called Santa Anas, make fall one of the worst times for fires there.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann
Source:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dry-winds-raise-critical-fire-151749396.html