[ad_1]
As the LNU Lightning Complex fire rushed towards Vacaville and more wildfires spread across the Bay Area on Wednesday, the fires also appeared to have destroyed power lines and cellphone towers in their path, adding unplanned outages to the predicted power outages that could occur in the afternoon.
Loss of power and damage to systems threatens the Bay Area’s critical cell phone and internet infrastructure used for emergency alert systems and for residents to find critical information online.
While vendors like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast have predicted power outages, their systems may face critical test as the Northern California fire seat affects large parts of the region and combines with power outages. currents that the state has not known for decades.
More than 5,000 residents of Vacaville and the surrounding area are still without power, and more than 4,000 in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties near the CZU August Lightning complex fire, according to the PG&E outage map. High heat, high demand and lightning also caused power outages on Wednesday morning, according to a tweet from PG&E.
Power outages in the Bay Area peaked at 5:17 p.m. yesterday when 24,000 Napa County customers were without power, Jeff Smith, a spokesperson for PG&E, wrote in an email. Electrical service was proactively disabled for some customers on Aug. 17-18 at the request of firefighters, Brandi Merlo, another PG&E representative, added in an email.
PG&E plans to restore power around 6:00 p.m. for many people affected by the outages near Vacaville and has no estimated restoration date for those in Santa Cruz, according to the outage map. The time required to restore electrical service after a forest fire can vary widely depending on conditions. “We have to wait until we have access to the areas affected by the fire to determine the impact on our facilities. The duration of the outage usually depends on the extent of the damage, ”Merlo wrote.
Several residents of evacuation areas reported on Twitter Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning that they had not received emergency alerts due to power cuts. The outages appeared to be related to the fires, since the DC outages that regulators had warned of were averted through conservation measures.
The Napa County Sheriff’s Office uses a “hi-lo” siren (a European siren with a unique sound compared to a traditional siren) to warn residents who may have lost power or do not have power. cell access to evacuate, said Henry Wofford. sheriff’s office officer. Officers sometimes drive as slowly as 5 miles per hour along streets with the evacuation order to make sure people hear the sound and know how to evacuate or look for information.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office uses the same siren, officials said at a press briefing Wednesday morning.
Officers will also go door-to-door when necessary to ensure people have evacuated, he said, noting that for those who receive the evacuation warning, prompt compliance helps prevent officers and firefighters risk their lives later to save residents who are stranded. in their homes.
Internet providers need access to electricity to distribute digital signals. “Our service requires market power to function,” said Comcast spokesperson Joan Hammel. Comcast coordinates with Cal Fire both to make sure firefighters have internet access and to make sure they know the locations of critical internet infrastructure, she added.
Comcast uses standby generators to ensure continuous internet access during a power outage, Hammel said, but noted that the company may be unable to maintain internet service on its network depending on the length and size of the service. power outage.
“The size and scope of this heat wave is immense,” said Hammel. “It’s only been so long that we can take over the services on the generators.” Even people with generators will lose internet access if the distribution center loses power.
If residents lose power and don’t have access to their own generators, their home internet routers can fail, killing Wi-Fi signals and leaving them dependent on cell service. If the wireless phone network also fails, residents may not be able to afford critical alerts and information.
If possible, Bay Area residents should have a plan in place that allows them to activate unlimited data plans for their cellphones during a power outage, Hammel said. Some wireless service providers have waived caps or data charges in past fire emergencies.
PG&E recommends that customers prepare for outages by keeping phones, laptops and other devices charged. Rotary outages typically last 2 to 3 hours, the utility said, while unplanned outages can vary in length. When still raging fires prevent crews from reaching damaged areas to make repairs, outages can be lengthy.
Power outages and fires also affect cell towers. AT&T and Verizon have back-up batteries or back-up generators at most sites, but more than one million people have lost cell service (and therefore access to emergency alerts) during emergency outages. PG&E fires last year.
The California Utilities Commission voted in July to require 72 hours of standby power to cell towers in an emergency, and wireless service providers have 11 months to develop a resiliency plan and implement commitment required.
Steve Portigal, a resident of San Mateo County, expressed his frustration with the emergency alert system, which Tuesday night sent him a non-working link on his cell phone and then directed him to the COVID-19 resources instead of information on forest fires. The fires last year destroyed cell service where he lives, and he doesn’t know what to do except plan ahead and rely on his neighbors if he loses cell service this year.
“While we do everything we can to minimize the impact of power outages, there are some discrete areas where we cannot install generators due to topographical or other constraints. In these rare cases, some customers may experience service interruptions or degraded network performance until commercial power is restored, ”Verizon spokesperson Heidi Flato wrote in an email.
“We understand the importance of keeping customers and first responders connected during emergencies, including power outages. That’s why we invested over $ 8.7 billion in our California networks from 2017 to 2019 and announced a three-year, $ 340 million plan to add backup power to more cell sites, ”wrote Jim Greer, spokesperson for AT&T, in a statement. .
And people without Internet or cellular access are at risk regardless of the state of the infrastructure. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office located and evacuated 25 hikers in the Point Reyes National Seashore wildfire evacuation area last night, where they had limited or no cell service, according to a Tweet from the Sheriff’s Office.
Because previous years have shown problems with the wireless emergency alert system, people should remember that “they are their best alert system,” said David Passey, a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. People need to be aware of their surroundings, talk to their neighbors and share information.
Between the alerts broadcast on television and radio, the wireless emergency alert system, other alert systems used by local authorities such as the siren and information shared from person to person, “the diapers alert will be addressed to the majority of the public, ”he added.
Anna Kramer is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @anna_c_kramer
[ad_2]
Source link