Power turned off in California's North Bay to prevent wildfire risks

Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-09 05:54:54|Editor: yan
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SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Californian utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) said Saturday that it has "proactively" cut off power supply to about 1,600 customers in the North Bay amid a red-flag fire warning.

The power outage could affect some communities in parts of Napa County, Solano County and Yolo County in the San Francisco North Bay area after the National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning about the increased risk for fires that will last until Sunday afternoon.

"For safety, we have proactively turned off power in portions of Napa, Solano & Yolo counties (approx. 1,600 customers)," PG&E tweeted Saturday.

About 30,000 customers in Yuba, Butte, El Dorado and Placer counties may also experience the suspension of electric supply beginning early Saturday, said the utility.

The area includes portions of Paradise town that was worst hit by a deadly wildfire known as Camp Fire in Northern California last year.

The fire, which was described as the most destructive fire disaster in California history, was caused by the failure of PG&E's power lines, according to an investigation by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) announced on May 15.

The blaze killed 85 people and burned 153,336 acres and 18,804 structures, with a loss of 16.5 billion U.S. dollars.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 in connection with the catastrophic wildfires that occurred in Northern California in 2017 and 2018, with potential civil liabilities in excess of 30 billion dollars.

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