CA utilities cut electricity again> fears more fires

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[ref
http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Keep-EVs-charged-N-CA-Counties-power-shutoff-warning-Butte-El-Dorado-Nevada-Placer-Sutter-Yuba-v-tp4695144.html
]

https://www.wtnh.com/news/california-utility-begins-another-blackout-amid-fire-fears/
California utility begins another blackout amid fire fears
Oct 23, 2019  JOCELYN GECKER  Janie Har  Associated Press

[image  
https://www.wtnh.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/2019/10/344b3d15ce0247a08a0f872683fff60d-1.jpg
FILE – In this Oct. 10, 2019, file photo, Pacific Gas & Electric employees
work in the PG&E Emergency Operations Center in San Francisco. Authorities
say power outages have started Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, in Northern
California after the state’s largest utility said it was planning a
widespread blackout citing wildfire danger. The Santa Rosa Fire Department
tweeted Wednesday that shutoffs had started in the city and it was getting
multiple reports of outages. Pacific Gas & Electric said earlier Wednesday
it was going forward with blackouts later in the day that could affect
450,000 people in 17 counties of Northern California. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu,
File)
]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lights went out across large portions of Northern
California on Wednesday, as the state’s largest utility began its second
massive blackout in two weeks, citing the return of dangerous fire weather.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the rolling blackouts that initially
stretched from the Sierra foothills to north of the San Francisco Bay Area
would ultimately impact a half-million people — or nearly 180,000 customers
— in 17 counties.

The outages will last about 48 hours, the utility said ,but its seven-day
forecast shows an elevated likelihood of a shut-off across a much larger
portion of Northern California for the weekend, when heavy winds are
expected to return.

Southern California Edison said it could cut power Thursday to more than
308,000 customers in seven counties, and San Diego Gas & Electric was
warning of power shutoffs to about 24,000 customers.

Two weeks ago, a PG&E blackout affected nearly 2 million people, prompting
feelings of frustration and resignation among some residents and business
owners and renewing rushes to stock up on batteries and other emergency
supplies.

Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore said PG&E was better this time about
getting information to people who would be affected, but he was still
astonished by the need to resort to largescale blackouts.

“I am a big believer in shutdowns to prevent fires. But the thing that
erodes public trust is when it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “You say, ‘God,
I know if we can put a man on the moon … we can manage a (power) grid.'”

The Santa Rosa Fire Department said it was getting multiple reports of
outages and urged residents on Twitter to drive carefully, since traffic
signals would go dark.

With winds forecast to top 60 mph (97 kph), utilities worried branches and
debris could be thrown into power lines or topple them, sparking wildfires.

PG&E cut power across northern and central areas of the state in rolling
blackouts from Oct. 9-12, paralyzing parts of the region in what was the
largest deliberate blackout to prevent wildfires in state history. Schools
and universities canceled classes and many businesses were forced to close.

California Gov. Gavin sent a sharply worded letter Tuesday to Bill Johnson,
PG&E’s CEO, blaming the unprecedented mass outage earlier this month on the
company’s failure to maintain and upgrade its equipment.

“I believe the unacceptable scope and duration of the previous outage —
deliberately forcing 735,000 customers to endure power outages — was the
direct result of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety,”
Newsom wrote, referring to the number of businesses and households affected,
not the total number of people.


PG&E said the shutdowns are not about money.

The only goal “is to prevent a catastrophic wildfire,” Johnson said in a
Tuesday briefing.
[© wtnh.com]
...
https://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/California-utility-begins-another-blackout-amid-14557849.php


 (NorCal)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/second-round-of-power-outages-begin-in-california-amid-wildfire-concerns
Second round of power outages begins in California amid wildfire concerns
Oct 23, 2019  California's largest energy provider began another deliberate
blackout Wednesday ...
https://abc7news.com/society/list-areas-affected-by-pg-e-power-outage-in-california/5636609/


 (SoCal)
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-23/california-braces-for-more-widespread-power-outages-as-dangerous-winds-pick-up
Edison says more than 300,000 could lose power as California blackouts begin
Oct 23, 2019  Large swaths of California will once again be without power
amid heightened concerns ... had their power cut. The utility ...


http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Wash-Post-headline-jabs-EVs-during-CA-utility-power-cuts-tp4695365p4695374.html
Oct 12 2019


+
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/23/elon-musk-predicts-tesla-energy-could-be-bigger-than-its-ev-business/
Elon Musk predicts Tesla energy could be ‘bigger’ than its EV business
2019/10/23 ... Tesla’s energy and solar businesses languished for nearly two
years as attention and resources were directed to the Model 3. That
diversion of resources included redirecting battery cell production lines
meant for its home Powerwall and commercial Powerpack energy storage
products to the car because the company didn’t have enough cells ...
https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/tesla-Powerpack-Angled.png




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I'm having a hard time figuring out how forcing a several hundred
thousand people to rely on hardware store gasoline generators and
extension cords to light their homes is reducing the fire danger.

Sounds a lot more like PG&E reducing their liability and foisting it
onto their ratepayers.

Once burned, twice shy.

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They call it "Public Safety Power Shutoff" (PSPS) thus shifting the
blame to the public while in reality it is Investor Protection Power
Shutoff.  They should be calling it IPPS.

This is crazy! 74% of our electric utility bill here in Mendocino County
is "PG&E Electric Delivery Charges".  The other 26% is for "Sonoma Clean
Power Electric Generation Charges".  3/4 of our bill goes to support an
infrastructure that PG&E chooses to shut down in order to protect their
investors. We are being charged three times as much to deliver the
energy than it costs to generate it.

Investor Owned Public Utilities should be illegal!



On 10/23/19 7:01 PM, Mr. Sharkey via EV wrote:

> I'm having a hard time figuring out how forcing a several hundred
> thousand people to rely on hardware store gasoline generators and
> extension cords to light their homes is reducing the fire danger.
>
> Sounds a lot more like PG&E reducing their liability and foisting it
> onto their ratepayers.
>
> Once burned, twice shy.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
>

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It does seem that way to me, too. As a short term stop-gap safety
measure, I support it. But it indicates the endemic and inadequate
condition of the infrastructure and does nothing to mitigate the problem
in the future. What is PG&E going to do for minimizing the risk of fire
in the first place ? Doing nothing relegates them to 3rd world status.

Peri

------ Original Message ------
From: "Cliff Crabtree via EV" <[hidden email]>
To: "Electric Vehicle Discussion List" <[hidden email]>
Cc: "Cliff Crabtree" <[hidden email]>; "Mr. Sharkey"
<[hidden email]>
Sent: 24-Oct-19 7:48:58 AM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] CA utilities cut electricity again> fears more fires

>They call it "Public Safety Power Shutoff" (PSPS) thus shifting the blame to the public while in reality it is Investor Protection Power Shutoff.  They should be calling it IPPS.
>
>This is crazy! 74% of our electric utility bill here in Mendocino County is "PG&E Electric Delivery Charges".  The other 26% is for "Sonoma Clean Power Electric Generation Charges".  3/4 of our bill goes to support an infrastructure that PG&E chooses to shut down in order to protect their investors. We are being charged three times as much to deliver the energy than it costs to generate it.
>
>Investor Owned Public Utilities should be illegal!
>
>
>
>On 10/23/19 7:01 PM, Mr. Sharkey via EV wrote:
>>I'm having a hard time figuring out how forcing a several hundred thousand people to rely on hardware store gasoline generators and extension cords to light their homes is reducing the fire danger.
>>
>>Sounds a lot more like PG&E reducing their liability and foisting it onto their ratepayers.
>>
>>Once burned, twice shy.
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>
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>

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Peri Hartman via EV wrote:
> It does seem that way to me, too. As a short term stop-gap safety
> measure, I support it. But it indicates the endemic and inadequate
> condition of the infrastructure and does nothing to mitigate the problem
> in the future. What is PG&E going to do for minimizing the risk of fire
> in the first place ? Doing nothing relegates them to 3rd world status.

People who live in places that routinely experience bad weather (high
winds, hurricantes, ice storms, tornadoes, etc.) know that occasional
blackouts are the norm. Unless you spend an unreasonable amount of
money, power lines are always vulnerable to such things.

How reliable is the power in southern California? How many outages per
year does the average person see? Are these recent shutdowns unusually
long or frequent, compared to other parts of the country?

Where I live in central Minnesota, we have 4-6 blackouts a year, probaby
totalling 20-40 hours a year.

--
There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows
about. It's very serious, and interferes completely with your work. The
trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them! (Richard Feynman)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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Other areas don't turn off power on purpose. Power outages are due to weather conditions blowing down lines not the power company turning it off.
 

    On Thursday, October 24, 2019, 1:38:00 PM CDT, Lee Hart via EV <[hidden email]> wrote:  
 
 Peri Hartman via EV wrote:
> It does seem that way to me, too. As a short term stop-gap safety
> measure, I support it. But it indicates the endemic and inadequate
> condition of the infrastructure and does nothing to mitigate the problem
> in the future. What is PG&E going to do for minimizing the risk of fire
> in the first place ? Doing nothing relegates them to 3rd world status.

People who live in places that routinely experience bad weather (high
winds, hurricantes, ice storms, tornadoes, etc.) know that occasional
blackouts are the norm. Unless you spend an unreasonable amount of
money, power lines are always vulnerable to such things.

How reliable is the power in southern California? How many outages per
year does the average person see? Are these recent shutdowns unusually
long or frequent, compared to other parts of the country?

Where I live in central Minnesota, we have 4-6 blackouts a year, probaby
totalling 20-40 hours a year.

--
There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows
about. It's very serious, and interferes completely with your work. The
trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them! (Richard Feynman)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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That's a good point, Lee. I think there's at least one major difference,
though. Major power outages due to weather are usually short for the
majority of customers. That is, if a major distribution line goes down,
that gets fixed first, maybe just hours after, and most people get their
power back, particularly those in urban areas. With PS&E, whole sectors
go down and, at least from what I've read, that includes urban areas.
And the power stays off till the winds die down.

None the less, it does present a good argument to having solar power on
each and every roof ! Especially in calif, where it's usually sunny,
even during a wind storm.

Peri

------ Original Message ------
From: "Lee Hart" <[hidden email]>
To: "Peri Hartman" <[hidden email]>; "Electric Vehicle Discussion
List" <[hidden email]>
Sent: 24-Oct-19 11:37:21 AM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] CA utilities cut electricity again> fears more fires

>Peri Hartman via EV wrote:
>>It does seem that way to me, too. As a short term stop-gap safety
>>measure, I support it. But it indicates the endemic and inadequate
>>condition of the infrastructure and does nothing to mitigate the problem
>>in the future. What is PG&E going to do for minimizing the risk of fire
>>in the first place ? Doing nothing relegates them to 3rd world status.
>
>People who live in places that routinely experience bad weather (high winds, hurricantes, ice storms, tornadoes, etc.) know that occasional blackouts are the norm. Unless you spend an unreasonable amount of money, power lines are always vulnerable to such things.
>
>How reliable is the power in southern California? How many outages per year does the average person see? Are these recent shutdowns unusually long or frequent, compared to other parts of the country?
>
>Where I live in central Minnesota, we have 4-6 blackouts a year, probaby totalling 20-40 hours a year.
>
>-- There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows
>about. It's very serious, and interferes completely with your work. The
>trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them! (Richard Feynman)
>--
>Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com

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> From: "Mr. Sharkey" <[hidden email]>
>
> Sounds a lot more like PG&E reducing their liability and foisting it
> onto their ratepayers.

Can you blame them?

A court found that they were responsible for fires last year that destroyed a lot of property. They won't stay in business long if they burn down many more houses.

There's only two solutions: 1) legislative indemnification, or 2) state buy-out, making it a public utility.

Jan

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>> Sounds a lot more like PG&E reducing their liability and foisting it
>> onto their ratepayers.
>
> Can you blame them?

Of course we can.  That’s nearly tautological.  They’re PG&E.

> A court found that they were responsible for fires last year that destroyed a lot of property. They won't stay in business long if they burn down many more houses.

Arguably, they’re not in business right now.  Just trying to sneak money around the bankruptcy court.

> There's only two solutions: 1) legislative indemnification, or 2) state buy-out, making it a public utility.

Or municipal buy-outs, as San Francisco has been trying to do for fifty years.

And, heck, PG&E could have just taken care of safety precautions and infrastructure investment, like other utilities do, instead of cashing out billions.

https://www.kqed.org/news/11737336/judge-pge-paid-out-stock-dividends-instead-of-trimming-trees

                                -Bill

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https://www.ksl.com/article/46661147/the-latest-winds-drive-southern-california-canyon-fire
The Latest: Winds drive fire toward homes near Los Angeles
Oct 24th, 2019  The Associated Press

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]

GEYSERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on the wildfires in California (all
times local):

[SoCal]
3:20 p.m.
Firefighters are protecting homes from a wind-whipped fire that's roaring
toward subdivisions north of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County officials say the fire has grown to some 850 acres in
just a few hours in the Canyon County area of Santa Clarita.

No homes have burned, but some evacuations are underway. Heavy smoke is
shrouding the area, which is consuming brushy hills surrounded by
neighborhoods.

The flames are fed by dry winds that are predicted to strengthen throughout
the day across the region. Forecasters say peak gusts could top 70 mph (112
kph).
___

2:40 p.m.
Firefighters are protecting horse farms and other rural properties from a
fast-growing blaze in a Southern California canyon.

Los Angeles County officials say the fire quickly consumed more than 200
acres (90 hectares) of dry brush after breaking out Thursday in the Canyon
Country area of Santa Clarita.
Advertise with us

Television news helicopter footage showed outbuildings and at least one car
on fire on a property about an hour north of downtown Los Angeles.

The flames are fed by dry winds that are predicted to strengthen throughout
the day across the region. Forecasters say peak gusts could top 70 mph (112
kph).

To the southeast, firefighters have made good progress against a fire that
prompted evacuations earlier the day near the city of San Bernardino.
___

[NorCal]
1 p.m.
The power is off to prevent utility company equipment from sparking
wildfires for the fourth time in the Northern California town of Paradise
since last November, where 85 people died in the fire that largely destroyed
the community.

The town's Ace Hardware store is one of the few businesses open Thursday and
motorists used to the outages are politely treating darkened traffic lights
like four-way stop intersections.

Store manager Brenda Miller says she uses a wood stove for heat and
battery-operated lanterns when the power is out.

She says she sympathizes with residents of wine country in Sonoma County as
they flee a fast-growing wildfire.

Miller says: "They're leaving their homes, they don't know when they can get
back in there, and it's a mess."
___

12:40 p.m.
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick says about 2,000 people are under
evacuation orders from a fast-moving fire in Northern California's wine
country.

The fire is bringing back memories of the devastating and deadly blazes that
killed 44 in the area two years ago.

Essick says many people felt better prepared Thursday than they were two
years ago, but that doesn't mean they should wait to leave.

Essick says officials have had problems with some people not wanting to
evacuate. He says firefighters need to fight the fire rather than worry
about rescuing people.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident commander
Mike Parkes says the fire started Wednesday night near the Geysers.

It is the world's largest geothermal field, with nearly two dozen power
plants drawing steam from more than 350 mountain wells to create electricity
...
___

11:30 a.m.
The head of California's state firefighting force says weather conditions
have improved and that authorities hope to begin containing a big wildfire
in Sonoma County's wine country by nightfall.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Fire Chief Thom Porter
told reporters Thursday that the agency has moved this year to preposition
trucks when fire conditions are dangerous.

He says that allows firefighters to quickly control fires and that only one
out of more than 600 in the state over the last two days has become
significant.

The Sonoma County fire broke out late Wednesday and exploded to more than 15
square miles (39 square kilometers) due to extremely windy and dry weather
affecting the state. In Sonoma County, Porter said 100 firetrucks were ready
to respond.
___

11:20 a.m.
California's utilities have been cutting power to areas to try to prevent
their electrical equipment from starting fires but California's governor is
criticizing the scale of the outages by the Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
utility.

The outages Thursday cut off power for tens of thousands of customers for
the second time this month.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says he's infuriated that California is world renowned for
its high-tech industry but that residents must endure the power outages.

Newsom is a Democrat and is also urging people to respect utility workers as
they do their jobs in the field.

PG&E CEO Bill Johnson said Wednesday that someone fired a pellet gun at a
worker in California's northern Glenn County.

A big fire is in Northern California in the wine country of Sonoma County
has burned at least three homes and prompted the evacuation of the town of
Geyserville.
___

11:15 a.m.
A resident of the Northern California community evacuated as a wildfire
raged says he fled with his wife as flames surrounded both sides of their
driveway.

Harry Bosworth said Thursday that he saw his barn in Geyserville catch fire
as they drove away.

Hundreds of people in the Sonoma County wine country town were ordered to
evacuate shortly before dawn.

The fire erupted late Wednesday and expanded to more than 15 square miles
(39 square kilometers) by Thursday as morning powerful winds swept the
region.

The mayor of the neighboring town of Healdsburg says a shelter with mental
health counselors has been set up for those fleeing Geyserville.

Mayor David Hagele says the mental health counselors are needed because many
evacuees are survivors of devastating wine country fires that killed 44
people two years ago and when many people lost their homes.
___

[SoCal]
9:50 a.m.
Flames are no longer visible from a wildfire in Southern California but
mandatory and voluntary evacuations remain in place as Santa Ana winds gust
through the region and create extreme fire risk.

The fire broke out early Thursday about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Los
Angeles in the San Bernardino National Forest near the city of San
Bernardino.

The U.S. Forest service says in a statement that firefighters have made good
progress but have not established containment lines around the area where
vegetation is still smoldering.

TV images have shown the scorched landscape with no flames apparent and
little smoke.

The Forest Service says 80 homes are under evacuation in the city and a Red
Cross shelter has opened at a high school.

Very dry air and strong winds are affecting much of California, including
the wine county north of San Francisco Bay where a huge wildfire has forced
evacuations and burned at least three homes.
___

[NorCal]
9:20 a.m.
A fire burning in Northern California's wine county is still growing.

But California Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Jonathan Cox says
winds that gusted as high as 70 miles (113 kilometers) per hour overnight
have eased slightly since dawn on Thursday. That could help firefighters.

Officials ordered hundreds of people to immediately evacuate the town of
Geyserville as the fire raged.

It's not clear whether the area was also affected by the Pacific Gas &
Electric Co. utility's pre-emptive power shutoffs put in place to prevent
the company's equipment from sparking fires.

An Associated Press photographer saw at least three burned homes in Sonoma
County north of San Francisco.

Cox says it's too early for firefighters to assess the structures that have
burned.
___

[SoCal]
8:35 a.m.
The Southern California Edison utility has cut power to more than 15,000
Southern California customers as gusty Santa Ana winds sweep parts of the
region and raise the risk of wildfires.

The utility is also considering additional power cuts Thursday to more than
286,000 customers to prevent wildfires ignited by downed lines or branches
blown into them.

The moves came as a fire rages in the wine country of Northern California's
Sonoma County that has destroyed at least three homes and prompted the
evacuation of the small community of Geyserville.

At least two fires have erupted in Southern California but they have
remained small.
___

[NorCal]
8:25 a.m.
Mary Ceglarski-Sherwin and her husband Matt Ceglarski-Sherwin lost their
rental home in the Northern California city of Santa Rosa during a series of
deadly fires two years ago.

Early Thursday, they and their two dogs were evacuating from their new home
in the community of Geyserville in Sonoma County's wine country with the
72-hour emergency kits they'd acquired during the last fire, they told the
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat .

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office issued orders for Geyserville's
evacuation shortly before dawn as a wind-drive wildfire raged.

Mary Ceglarski-Sherwin says at 3 a.m. she told her husband "we gotta go, we
gotta go; I can feel it changing."

She says they could feel the fire's heat and see its smoke when they headed
for an evacuation shelter.
___

7:30 a.m.
Northern California authorities have ordered the entire town of Geyserville
evacuated as a wind-driven wildfire rages through the wine country north of
San Francisco Bay.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office issued orders for immediate evacuation of
the community shortly before dawn Thursday.

Geyserville has about 900 residents and is a popular stop for wine country
tourists.

The fire erupted late Wednesday and exploded in size overnight to more than
15 square miles (39 square kilometers),

At least three homes have burned. There are no reports of injuries.

A statement from the sheriff's office says: "If you're in Geyserville, leave
now."
___

7:20 a.m.
An Associated Press photographer has seen three homes destroyed by a
wind-driven wildfire that is raging through wine country in Sonoma County
north of San Francisco.

The photographer reported Thursday that the homes burned in the community of
Jimtown.

The fire erupted late Wednesday and expanded to more than 15 square miles
(39 square kilometers) before dawn Thursday as powerful winds swept the
region.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office says evacuations have been ordered but
the number of people affected is not known. There are no reports of
injuries.
___

12:15 a.m.
Hundreds of thousands of Californians are without power for the second time
in two weeks as dangerously windy weather prompts safety shutdowns.

Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday and Thursday cut power to about a
half-million people from the Sierra foothills to portions of the San
Francisco Bay Area.

Outages that could last 48 hours seek to keep gusts from pummeling power
lines and sparking devastating wildfires.

Northern winds are expected to ease Thursday but pick up where Southern
California Edison warned it might black out about 308,000 customers. San
Diego Gas & Electric warned about 24,000 customers could lose power.

PG&E blacked out about 2 million people just two weeks ago, drawing
criticism. The utility says outages were more targeted this time, but more
are possible Saturday with dry gusts in the north.
[© ksl.com]


+ [dated  neither NorCal nor SoCal utilities are saints]
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pge-safety-investigation-20181214-story.html
PG&E falsified gas pipeline records for years after deadly explosion,
regulators say
Dec 14, 2018 - Pacific Gas & Electric Co. continued to commit pipeline
safety violations in the years after a gas explosion that killed eight
people in the Bay ...
https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a9fc761/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x1152+0+0/resize/840x473!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F86%2Fc1%2F174bddc188d3a096ce9d808b2796%2Fla-1466200693-snap-photo
...
https://www.google.com/search?q=pg%26e+natural+gas+pipeline+fires


https://www.dailynews.com/2019/05/17/root-cause-of-massive-2015-porter-ranch-gas-leak-is-announced/
'Root cause' report blasts SoCal Gas over massive 2015 ...
May 17, 2019 - “No failure investigations were conducted by SoCalGas,” wrote
the ... The gas leak, which was discovered at the underground storage
facility in ...
...
https://www.google.com/search?q=socal+natural+gas+storage+leaks




For EVLN EV-newswire posts use:
 http://www.evdl.org/archive/


{brucedp.neocities.org}

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[Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list]

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/cal-fire-called-to-multiple-brush-fires-along-highway-180-1/
Cal Fire called to multiple brush fires along Highway 180 east of Fresno
Oct 26, 2019  Paul Schlesinger

[video  flash  
Fire crews called to multiple brush fires along Highway 180 east of Fresno


share
https://twitter.com/FresnoCoFire/status/1188152106122768384
CALFIRE/FresnoCoFire
@FresnoCoFire
#McCallIncident Firefighters battling a series of grass fires on the north
side of HWY 180 from Bethel to Locan. All fires are contained, crews will be
working on hot spots for another hour. Be careful when traveling through the
area. Received aid from @FresnoFire
View image on Twitter
12:55 PM - Oct 26, 2019
]

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) — Fresno County Cal Fire crews fought
multiple grass fires Saturday morning along Highway 180 east of Fresno.

Firefighters received calls about a fire along the highway’s westbound side
near McCall Avenue around 9:25 a.m., Cal Fire Spokesman Seth Brown said.
Crews arrived and realized there were multiple fires stretching from
Temperance to McCall avenues.

Firefighters were able to put out the fires in about 45 minutes but will
remain on scene for mop-up and to watch for any flareups.

Brown said the cause of the fires is under investigation but believes the
flames could have been sparked from a vehicle dragging a chain down the
roadway.

He added that the fires were unusual due to the number of fires and the
distance between them.

Three engines from Cal Fire Fresno County responded to the fires along with
mutual aid requested from the Fresno Fire Department in the form of two
engines.

Pacific Gas & Electric crews were called out to the scene to check on power
polls that sustained minor damage from the fires.
[© yourcentralvalley.com]
...
https://goo.gl/maps/RNsa5BVC11mg7rEv9
 (map  CA-180 & N McCall, 180 N Temperance East of Fresno-CA in central/ San
Joaquin Valley, not near NorCal nor SoCal fires)
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_180
California State Route 180 (SR 180) is a state highway in the U.S. state of
California. It runs through the heart of the San Joaquin Valley from State
Route 33 in Mendota through Fresno, ...


https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/new-evacuations-blackouts-near-california-wildfire-1879343/
Evacuations ordered for 50,000 people near California wildfire
October 26, 2019  Pacific Gas & Electric said it would begin blackouts in
the afternoon for about 940,000 homes and businesses in 36 counties for 48
hours or longer throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, wine country and
Sierra foothills. That’s about 90,000 more customers affected than
previously predicted ...
https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/12898676_web1_AP19298775880064.jpg


[SoCal]
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-evacuations-ordered-50000-people-california-wildfire-1250288
New Evacuations Ordered for 50,000 People Near California Wildfire
10/26/2019  Tick fire
https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2019/10/tickfire.jpg


Here is how to survive a power outage in your home
More than 2 million residents in California could lose power this weekend as
Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California ...
 ... unexpected power outages. Your  emergency preparedness kit should
include:
  - A gallon of water per day per person,
  - Enough food for two weeks
  - A flashlight
  - A hand crank- or battery-powered radio
  - A first aid kit
  - Emergency contact information
  - A map of your area
http://california-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/e1/9d/510c9f21409eb25c49bdd9b77962/la-graphics-la-me-red-flag-fire-weather-01.jpg


[NorCal]
https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/nation/more-than-evacuated-as-sonoma-county-fire-grows-unprecedented-power/article_a0f1a39e-58a8-5f12-b51a-9e71fdf82bbb.html
More than 90,000 evacuated as Sonoma County fire grows; unprecedented power
outages loom
Oct 26, 2019  Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said Saturday that it planned to
cut power to up to 940,000 customers ... By noon in Windsor, traffic was
moving slowly southward on Highway 101, a main evacuation route ...


https://www.ktvu.com/news/pge-will-cut-power-to-2-5-million-people-over-historic-wind-event
PG&E will cut power to 2.5 million people over 'historic wind event'
Pacific Gas & Electric says it's going forward with the second planned power
shut-off this ... If you have a generator ...
https://images.foxtv.com/static.ktvu.com/www.ktvu.com/content/uploads/2019/10/932/524/October-26-PSPS-event.jpg?ve=1&tl=1


https://fox61.com/2019/10/26/pge-may-shut-off-power-to-nearly-1-million-customers-in-california-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfire/
PG&E may shut off power to nearly 1 million customers in California to
prevent ‘catastrophic wildfire’ ... Winds fanning the flames ...
October 26, 2019  




For EVLN EV-newswire posts use:
 http://www.evdl.org/archive/


{brucedp.neocities.org}

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