Nearly 1 million Californians will spend the day without power after PG&E initiated its largest shutoffs of the year Sunday to mitigate fire risk as bone-dry winds reaching 70 miles per hour pummel Northern California. Meanwhile, Santa Ana winds of up to 80 miles per hour are slamming Southern California, prompting Southern California Edison to warn 71,000 customers could lose power.
- Duane Dykema, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey: “It’s definitely the strongest wind event of this fire season and probably the lowest humidity as well. … So overall, these are the most dangerous and critical conditions we’ve seen this fire season.”
It’s the latest superlative in a fire season that has already set record books ablaze. Wildfires have burned over 4.1 million acres this year — more than double California’s previous record — and August and September spawned five of the six largest fires in state history. Meanwhile, at least seven new fires ignited in Shasta County over the weekend, and officials expressed concern that gusty winds could exacerbate the 20 major wildfires still raging across the state.
- Scott Strenfel, PG&E’s head of meteorology and fire science: “We’re seeing four extremes … extremely high winds, extremely low humidity, extreme dry fuels due to the hottest average temperatures over the last six months according to records that go back 126 years, and extreme drought across the territory given lack of rainfall.”
Today, PG&E will provide a federal judge with more information about the role its equipment may have played in sparking the deadly Zogg Fire. A lot is on the line for the utility, which recently pled guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2018 Camp Fire and emerged from bankruptcy incurred by billions of dollars in wildfire-related liability costs.
A report released last week by PG&E’s court-appointed investigator found that the utility’s vegetation-management policies — intended to prevent trees from crashing into power lines and sparking fires — have regressed since 2019.
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
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