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About 118,500 customers were decommissioned in more than a dozen northern California counties on Sunday in an unprecedented initiative aimed at preventing forest fires accompanied by high winds and extreme weather conditions.
The utility company Pacific Gas and Electric, or PG & E, said that it was cutting electricity to help reduce the risk of forest fires. Some of the deadly hells that submerged the state at the same time last year were caused by power lines that fell to the ground and damaged electrical equipment..
The National Weather Service warned Sunday that critical fire-related weather in the North Bay and East Bay Hills was continuing until Monday morning due to a combination of strong gusty winds and low rate of relative humidity.
Red-flag fire warnings have affected several areas, including the Napa Hills and Sonoma Counties, the Diablo Mountain Range, the Sacramento Valley, and the northern regions of Sierra Nevada and the North Coast.
PG & E and county officials contacted customers directly and provided early warning notification, when and where possible, via automated calls, text messages and emails, reported NBC Bay Area.
The electricity company has implemented the shutdown plan in some areas extremely exposed to fire risk in the north of the state and near the Sierra Nevada as early as Sunday afternoon , before expanding to certain areas of North Bay, according to the resort.
The electricity company said most customers could expect electricity to be restored Monday night, with some failures lasting until Tuesday.
Some school districts in Napa and Lake counties canceled their classes on Monday because of the power outage.
"We know how dependent our customers are on electrical service and would only consider shutting down for safety, and as a last resort in extreme weather conditions," said Pat Hogan, executive vice president. electrical operations.
In June, the California Department of Forests and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, announced that "power and distribution lines, conductors, and failure of utility poles" had caused at least a dozen fires in six counties in northern California a year ago. the most lethal and costly season of the state. A total of 44 people died and more than 6,000 homes were destroyed by fires that devastated much of Sonoma County and elsewhere in the region.
The headquarters said "Fire Siege" from October 2017 involved more than 170 fires and burned at least 245,000 acres in Northern California. About 11,000 firefighters from 17 states and Australia participated in firefighting.
PG & E is facing increasing financial responsibility as a result of forest fires in the state. The electricity company has announced to shareholders that it expects to pay more than $ 2.5 billion in damages. California law requires utilities to pay for damages caused by wildfires if their equipment has caused fires, even if they are not negligent.
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