Hundreds of thousands lose power as Northern California braces for more wildfires

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-thousands-lose-power-
northern-california-braces-more-wildfires-n1244728

Hundreds of thousands of people lost power in dozens of California
counties Sunday as weather forecasters predicted the most powerful winds
of the year and the potential for more raging wildfires, officials said.

Pacific Gas & Electric, which supplies power to millions across Northern
and Central California, had shut off electricity to 225,000 customers by
Sunday night, said Mark Quinlan, the utility's incident commander. Another
136,000 were expected to lose power by midnight, he said.

The outages are expected to hit 36 counties, he said.

The company, which pleaded guilty this year to having caused the state's
deadliest wildfire, has taken to shutting off its electrical grid to
prevent its equipment from sparking new fires.

"Unfortunately, this event is going to transpire as predicted," the
company's meteorologist, Scott Strenfel, told reporters Sunday night.

Earlier, forecasters with the National Weather Service said the strongest
winds of the year were anticipated in some areas of the state through
Monday. With low humidity and tinder-dry vegetation, the agency placed
much of Northern California under its highest-risk wildfire alert, a red
flag warning.

Strenfel said winds could top 70 mph in some areas.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA, said, "This is the fire
weather forecast I was hoping wouldn't come to pass, given all that has
already transpired in 2020."

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Thousands of blazes have scorched more than 4 million acres in California
this year, a record, including the largest wildfire in state history,
which has topped 1 million acres and is spread across six counties.
Thirty-one people have died, and more than 9,000 buildings have been
destroyed.

Forecasters were also predicting powerful winds and low humidity in
Southern California. One of the region's utilities, Southern California
Edison, said it was considering power shutoffs for 71,000 customers
beginning Monday, The Associated Press reported.

Officials and experts have blamed the state's record wildfire season on
climate change and decades of forest management practices that allowed a
buildup of dead and dried-out vegetation in the state's vast wildlands.



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