California braces for power shutoffs and warm, windy weekend

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Firefighters and officials at California's largest utility company braced for hot, dry and windy weather in northern and central areas of the state this weekend that may fan the flames of several major wildfires or ignite new ones.

Pacific Gas & Electric posted a power cut “watch alert” for Saturday evening through Monday morning, when forecasters said a ridge of high pressure will raise temperatures and generate gusty winds flowing from the interior to the coast.

PG&E was tracking the weather to determine if it would be necessary to shut off power to areas where gusts could damage the company’s equipment or hurl debris into lines that can ignite flammable vegetation.

On Thursday, PG&E said approximately 21,000 customers in northern Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties would lose power. It expanded the alert on Friday afternoon to include portions of the Bay Area, but didn't say how many homes could be affected.

When heavy winds were predicted earlier this month, PG&E cut power to about 167,000 homes and businesses in central and Northern California in a more targeted approach after being criticized last year for acting too broadly when it blacked out 2 million customers to prevent fires.

PG&E equipment has sparked past large wildfires, including the 2018 fire that destroyed much of the Sierra foothills town of Paradise and killed 85 people.

Firefighters battling the state's largest wildfire braced for the change in weather by constructing fuel breaks on Friday to keep the flames from reaching a marijuana-growing enclave where authorities said many of the locals have refused to evacuate and abandon their maturing crops.

The wildfire called the August Complex is nearing the small communities of Post Mountain and Trinity...