Blustery windsa> still surged through <a href="https: on Tuesday after downing trees, fanning disasters and shutting off energy” target=”_blank”>power<
Pacific Gas & Electric shut off power to about 21,000 customers in 20 central and northern California counties to reduce the risk that power lines could be toppled, sparking wildfires.
PG&E equipment was blamed for a 2018 fire that wiped out most of the town of Paradise in Butte County. The company filed for bankruptcy and pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. PG&E also faces numerous crime” target=”_blank”>criminal charges<, quickly spread to thousands of acres. The fire burned in dense chaparral through an area of ranches, canyons and parks.
The flames prompted the mandatory evacuation of El Capitan State Park along with campsites, cattle and horse ranches near general, and U.S. 101 — the only highway along the coast — was shut down as the blaze moved south toward the environment, environment spokesman Andrew Madsen said.
TORNADOES RIP THROUGH OKLAHOMA ALONG WITH BASEBALL-SIZED HAIL
On the Central Coast, a tree fell onto power lines at Hearst San Simeon State Park, sparking a small fire in the brush, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection tweeted. And strong winds knocked down a tree, destroying three parked cars and damaging a home in the coastal town of El Granada in San Mateo County, CalFire said. However, no injuries were reported.
This photo released by the CAL FIRE San Mateo – Santa Cruz Unit shows one of three vehicles destroyed during a wind event in El Granada village in the coastal area of northern San Mateo County, California.
(CAL FIRE San Mateo – Santa Cruz Unit via AP)
Windy weather is a nightmare for firefighters in a state where disasters and historic disasters tied to environment have left forests and brush tinder-dry. Fires that began in late summer are still burning after destroying hundreds of homes.
In the Sierra Nevada, the so-called KNP Complex fires may have burned hundreds of giant sequoias in groves in Sequoia National Park and were only 30% contained. On Monday, a firefighter with a hand crew working on the blaze was struck by a rolling rock. The firefighter was airlifted to a hospital and is in stable condition, fire officials said.
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The National Weather Service said blowing dust was widespread from the Sacramento Valley, across the San Joaquin Valley and into the high-desert Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles. Caltrans said sections of State Route 138 near the Antelope Valley city of Lancaster and State Route 14 were shut down because of the dust storm and several overturned trucks blocking the roadway.
