Is the Power Back on in Rancho Cucamonga

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Over 3,000 people in San Bernardino County and over 100 people in Riverside County were in the dark on Friday afternoon.

Across the state, more than 2 million people were without power after Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison preemptively cut electricity in its service area in northern and central California. About 100,000 customer connections were restored Thursday, the utility said, but some areas of the state could be without power for up to a week. Most of the outages are in the northern portion of the state, serviced by PG&E, but some Edison customers had also lost power.

By 2:15 p.m. Friday, power had been restored to more than 3,000 Edison customers, but 20,444 customers in the Southland were still without power, according to SCE's website, down from 23,870 Thursday night.

There were new outages in Riverside County Friday, with 168 customers affected in the unincorporated communities of Eden Hot Springs and Mountain Center, near Idyllwild.

The Associated Press reported on Friday afternoon that a man in Northern California died after losing power.

Northern California fire officials say a man dependent on oxygen died about 12 minutes after Pacific Gas & Electric cut power to the area as part of a massive effort to prevent fires.

El Dorado County Fire Chief Lloyd Ogan said Friday that fire personnel responded to a call in Pollock Pines that came in after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

He said crews arrived to find the unresponsive man in his 60s and were unable to revive him. Ogan said the man's oxygen equipment required power but could not say whether the shutdown was related to his death.

PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith said the company has not been able to confirm the accuracy of the report. The utility started turning off electricity early Wednesday in Northern and Central California in advance of strong, dry winds.

Power outages in San Bernardino County

SCE is reporting that 3,136 customers in San Bernardino County are without power including: the cities of Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto and San Bernardino and unincorporated areas including Devil's Canyon, Devore, Etiwanda, Glen Helen Regional Park, Grapevine Canyon, Kendall, Lytle Creek, Muscoy, San Sevaine Flats and Serrano Village.

Additional customers that might experience outages in San Bernardino County include those who live in: Big Bear, Calimesa, Cherry Valley, Hesperia, Highland, Upland, Yucaipa, and Yucca Valley.

Riverside County customers on notice

SCE has put more than 173,800 customers on notice that they might lose power. That includes about 22,325 customers in Riverside County.

Riverside County cities that may be impacted include:Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Hemet, San Jacinto, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Perris and Riverside.

Riverside County unincorporated communities that may be impacted include:Whitewater and Bonnie Bell, Banning Pass, Cabazon, Cherry Valley, Owl, portions of Desert Hills Outlet Mall, North Palm Springs, Gilman Hot Springs, Lakeview, Nuevo, Mons, Mead Valley, Eden Hot Springs, Mountain Center, Good Hope and other unincorporated areas of Beaumont, Banning and Riverside County.

SCE outage warnings can be found at https://www.sce.com/safety/wildfire/psps.

The increased frequency of mega-fires in California, which an SCE representative previously attributed to climate change, has changed how the state's three large power companies — Edison, PG&E in Northern California and SDG&E in the San Diego area — approach transmission line safety.

Power companies now face the delicate task of monitoring their equipment — and deciding when to preemptively shut power off. If power companies wait until it's too late, they could be leaving themselves liable in court for billions in wildfire damages, and loss of life.

Weather should improve on Friday

On Thursday, the National Weather Service said conditions remained dry and windy — perfect for the spread of fire.

"This morning, the strongest winds have been in the San Gorgonio and Cajon passes, with a max gust to 56 mph at Devil Canyon," the weather service said. Winds "are expected to become more widespread throughout the day."

A red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service for the Coachella Valley is in effect until 8 a.m. Friday and a warning for points to the west and the San Bernardino mountains is set to expire at 6 p.m. Friday. Red flag warnings are for critical fire weather conditions, including strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures.

Winds should die down and humidity should rise before the red flag warnings expire, said Casey Osnat, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"This weekend we're expecting the drier weather to continue into Saturday, but by late Saturday into Sunday, the humidity levels will recover so it will be above critical levels," Osnat said.

High temperatures on Saturday and Sunday are expected to be in the low 90s in the Coachella Valley and mid to upper 80s in western Riverside County, she said.

Regional air regulators warned of "very unhealthy" air quality through Friday and urged people across affected areas of Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties to limit exposure by remaining indoors with windows and doors closed and avoiding vigorous physical activity.

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Is the Power Back on in Rancho Cucamonga

Source: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/10/10/california-power-outages-spread-san-bernardino-county/3932457002/

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