SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric, which is blamed for some of California's deadliest recent fires, knew for years that dozens of its aging power lines posed a wildfire threat but avoided replacing or repairing them, it was reported Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, using company documents obtained under the federal...
How California is Working to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Millions of Californians face an unprecedented increase in natural disasters brought about climate change with an accompanying increase in risk. Unless. Imagine if everyone is prepared in advance of an emergency, and we all know what to do and where to go to keep safe. Imagine if every Californian in...
Paradise High Students Graduating in Town Torched by Wildfire
PARADISE — Sean Newsom's senior year of high school started with typical teenage pranks, like sticking a cup to the roof of his car with magnets just to mess with people as he drove around his small town in the Northern California mountains. It ended with him living in an...
PG&E Power Lines Triggered Deadly Paradise Fire, State Officials Say
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. power lines caused a fire that killed 85 people — the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history, California fire officials said Wednesday. Cal Fire said the transmission lines owned and operated by the San Francisco-based utility sparked the Nov. 8...
Forecast Calls for Busy Wildfire Season For West Coast States
SPOKANE, Wash. — Most of the country can expect a normal wildfire season but residents along the West Coast should be ready for another busy season, the National Interagency Fire Center said Wednesday. In the past two years, California has experienced its deadliest and largest wildfires. The Camp Fire in...
Sheltering in Place During a Wildfire a Dicey Strategy
REDDING — For Californians who might have to escape wildfire again this year, the options are perilous. Many live in communities that don't have well-thought-out public evacuation plans and lack the road capacity that's needed to get everyone out fast. Does this mean people should just shelter in place? Absolutely...
What Happens When the Next Big Wildfire Hits?
Don’t be fooled by the precipitation, the snowpack, the wildflowers. When winter ends, it’s unlikely that California’s iconic landscape will sustain the moisture to withstand the 100-degree summer and fall. California has yet to recover from the 5-year drought that began in 2012. For four years, record wildfires have ravaged...
PG&E Vows to Improve Wildfire Prevention
SAN FRANCISCO — Up to 5 million California customers could temporarily lose power this year in the name of wildfire prevention if regulators approve Pacific Gas & Electric's $2.3 billion safety proposal submitted Wednesday. PG&E unveiled the preventive blackout strategy for the first time late last year, getting regulatory permission...
Sen. Bill Dodd Proposes California Wildfire Warning Center
After four consecutive years of catastrophic wildfires, Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd wants to establish a California wildfire warning center that would allow officials to turn off power and better position firefighting crews during extreme heat and high winds. “It would give us more tools in trying to make sure...
CalFire: Homeowner Equipment Caused Deadly Blaze
SACRAMENTO — In a long-awaited report, state investigators said Thursday that a 2017 wildfire that killed 22 people in Northern California wine country was caused by a private electrical system, not equipment of embattled Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The state's firefighting agency concluded that the fire started next to...