CALIFORNIA, USA — PG&E has given the 'All Clear' for power to be restored to roughly 30,000 customers in Northern California.
On Thursday, officials said they were able to reduce the customers impacted by power shutoffs to about 39,000, whereas initially, PG&E planned to turn the power off to about 52,000 customers.
PG&E shutoff power to several counties after a Fire Weather Watch, and then a Red Flag Warning, went into effect for the Sacramento Valley and Bay Area. High winds and dry conditions caused some concern that a spark from utility equipment or a downed power line could cause another California wildfire.
The utility company says power can be expected to return to all areas under the Public Safety Power Shutoff within 12 daylight hours.
PG&E said in a statement that "aerial, vehicle and on-the-ground inspections, patrols and restoration work has begun for the majority of impacted areas with restoration expected for most by tonight." Before restoring power to all areas, the utility company said it needs to inspect lines, poles and towers to any weather damage and then repair that damage to ensure the safety of crews and customers.
Butte, El Dorado, Placer, Solano and Yuba counties were just a few of the counties that experienced outages. Other counties that were impacted included Shasta and Tehama counties, where the deadly Zogg Fire was only recently fully contained.
Cal Fire has since seized PG&E equipment as it investigates the cause of the Zogg Fire, which killed four people, including an eight-year-old girl and her mother.
After a power outage, it is important to remember that power surges are possible. Take caution when plugging in and turning on electronics, lights and other things that run on power.
More than 8,500 wildfires have burned well over 6,400 square miles in California since the start of the year.
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