Michael Cardinal, FISM News
Pacific Gas and Electric announced that it would be shutting off power to over 50,000 residents in an effort to prevent wildfires amidst heavy winds. The energy company said that “the combination of dry offshore winds, extreme to exceptional drought conditions and extremely dry vegetation” have made the area susceptible to more fires if there were downed power lines. The outages will affect residents in 18 counties located in northern California.
California has been dealing with one of the worst summer seasons on record, as they have been hit with extreme heat, water shortages, and countless wildfires. The California Government reports that there are currently eleven fires of interest throughout the state, with five classified as “incidents.” The University of California fire map, which shows all reported wildfires, reveals that there are nearly 100 fires currently burning across the state.
As FISM has previously reported, the Dixie Fire has become the second largest wildfire in California history. This fire which has destroyed entire towns continues to burn out of control 34 days after it started, as it is still only 31% contained.
Of more concern for California residents is the Caldor fire which started on Saturday evening. This fire which is located 60 miles from Sacramento is at 0% containment and growing rapidly. The fire exploded on Tuesday, engulfing 30,000 acres, due to winds, ripe ground conditions, and decreased visibility as a result of smoke from the nearby Dixie Fire. Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency and thousands of residents are being forced to evacuate as it begins to bear down on local residential areas.
🚨JUST ANNOUNCED🚨@CAgovernor Newsom proclaims #StateOfEmergency in @CountyElDorado due to #CaldorFire🔥Fire has burned 6,500+ acres, 0% contained🔥Exploded in size Monday night prompting mandatory #Evacuations & destroying several structures
➡️More Info: https://t.co/hmt4kBWX68 pic.twitter.com/ugdV0E1N5x— Cal OES (@Cal_OES) August 17, 2021
This will be another hurdle for Governor Newsom as he faces a recall election, since many have blamed the goveror for not doing more to prevent the wildfires that have ravaged the state over the past several years.
California volunteer firefighter, Angelo Sorola, told the California Globe that many of the firefighters are fed up with the lack of funding and support from the governor’s office and will seek to replace him at the recall election:
All of us from California are planning to vote to recall him. I don’t know who we are all thinking of picking to replace him, but the feeling is we want him out and someone who will actually support us go in. We don’t speak for all firefighters, obviously, but I’ve talked with groups around the state about this today and everyone who said that they are voting said they don’t want him in.