Some northern counties could see safety power outages this weekend due to fire risk, PG&E says
Electricity company Pacific Gas & Electric is warning customers of possible outages this week as firefighters continue to battle a powerful wildfire in Butte County.
The utility said that the fire burning on private land in Shasta County has damaged more than 1,000 poles, and that crews continue to remove equipment from power lines in the area.
“The outages continue to occur because PG&E crews are working to bring power back to our customers,” said PG&E in a statement. “At this time, it is possible that our crews will bring you safe power levels. However, we cannot guarantee when they may do so, and customers who live in areas where fire danger threatens are advised to move their power use to those areas that remain in good shape.
“We offer our highest appreciation for your patience and cooperation during this natural disaster,” said PG&E.
PG&E said that it is working with state and federal authorities to respond to the emergency.
It urges customers to use power before they are out of service or if they experience a power outage.
A PG&E spokeswoman said that power was restored to customers affected by the power interruption at 10 p.m. Friday.
The company’s website said that the fire began Tuesday afternoon around 9:30 p.m. as the result of “an electrical malfunction” on private property.
The fire burned for two days, and has burned more than 1,000 acres.
The Butte County Sheriff said that an officer had seen lightning and thunder during the fire.
According to the Sacramento Bee, a firefighter was among seven officers who were killed in a helicopter crash during the fire.
Another fire in Shasta County occurred Tuesday afternoon, after a helicopter pilot saw a man who was apparently a fire lookout attempting to jump off a steep rise.