Special Alert: California on fire and in the dark

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is fighting eight separate fires ranging from 35 acres to 26,000 acres in size. Meanwhile the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has turned the lights out on approximately 1,000,000 of their customers in Northern California and Southern California Edison has advised they too are turning power off as a precaution in portions of Southern California.

The National Weather Service is forecasting high winds, exceeding 80 mph in some cases, across much of California - the Diablo Winds (Northern California) and Santa Ana Winds (Southern California) are expected to cause fires to spread rapidly. At this time the NWS has 36 active warnings and alerts for California.

Mandatory evacuations are approaching 100,000 and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Red Cross have individually activated shelters in both Northern and Southern California, which can be tracked via the interactive map below.

Sonoma County has it’s own emergency management page, where they keep up-to-date information on current state of evacuations within the County. Sonoma County Emergency Preparedness Information.

FEMA’s morning briefing for 27 October, indicates that the Kincade (Sonoma County) and Tick (Los Angeles County) are to the two ares where FEMA has deployed resources.

Meanwhile PG&E has put approximately 1 million of its Northern California customers in the dark, as they turn off their network due to the potential for the feeder lines to cause fires. It is believed that more than one of the current wildfires was caused by PG&E wiring.

To determine the outage status of your neighborhood, PG&E has availed an interactive map.

Southern California Edison, also has available an interactive map which highlights current outages.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced yesterday the availability of a resource guide for those who are currently being affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoffs to ensure the most vulnerable of the population’s needs are addressed. California Health and Humans Services Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, noted, “Our top priority has been, and will continue to be, the health and well-being of the most vulnerable, which includes older Californians, individuals with disabilities, and those with medical needs. We are working hard to help ensure that California’s most vulnerable are prepared.”

California state NEW HOTLINE AVAILABLE

A nonemergency hotline has been established to help medically vulnerable Californians and health and community care facilities find resources in their communities during power shutoffs.

The hotline is (833) 284-3473.

If you are traveling to or within California over the next few days, take a moment and ensure the area you are traveling is not being affected by either the fires or blackouts.