Brushfire 40 Miles Away, Blackouts 400 Miles Away: Fire Season Arriving
Written by 991KBU on June 10, 2019
A large brushfire caused evacuation of the Magic Mountain theme park … 30 miles northeast of Malibu … last weekend.
40 acres … it’s out.
And up north … about 23 thousand households had their electricity intentionally shut off because of hear and high winds in the Napa area … and further north near Chico.
Fire season has begin.
It is only a matter of a few weeks before the dangerous conditions hit the coastal strip of the Malibu.
Electricity cutoffs are about to become a regular facet of life in Malibu… as the state has given Southern California Edison permission to switch off your power whenever they feel their power lines are unsafe in high winds.
Police up in northern California reported being inundated on 9-1-1 lines when the lights went out.
Calls for medical assistance went out from people whose oxygen systems failed.
One woman requested an ambulance because her “husband was running out of oxygen.
Police out out a tweet reminder Sunday afternoon … that 911 is reserved for emergencies.
P G and E opened a community resource center at a baseball stadium to provide restrooms, bottled water, power outlets and air conditioning to residents.
About 40 people showed up.
In the L A area … the brushfire at Magic Mountain caused no major damage … but it did force early closure of both the amusement park and its water park.
Typically … brushfires in the Santa Clarita Valley happen about a month before the brush in the Santa Monica Mountains dries out enough to burn easily.
What will be different this year … blackouts.
The Southern California Edison company has served notice that Malibu will get its power killed when Santa Anas blow.
Only 5 percent of the wildfires in California are caused by power line failures.
And warnings about the other 95 percent of the fires will be cut off … when the power goes out.
But the Edison company is unwilling to jeopardize the populace … and its bottom line .. by taking any chance.
Both the Thomas Fire and Woolsey Fire were apparently caused by S C E powerlines … although lawyers have yet to argue that.
More than 40 people killed … and nearly 2 billion dollars in damages.
