California Utility Cutting Power to 51,000 Customers Amid Dangerous Wildfire Conditions

In this image from a U.S. Forest Service wildfire monitoring camera, plumes of smoke rise from the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2021. U.S. Forest Service/ALERTWildfire Network via AP

The nation’s largest utility announced on Tuesday evening that it has begun shutting off power to some 51,000 customers as a large wildfire, fueled by winds, raged through a small Northern California forest town.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in a press release said it made the decision to prevent winds from knocking down or fouling power lines and sparking new blazes, citing “dry offshore winds, extreme to exceptional drought conditions and extremely dry vegetation.”