Over the weekend of October 25, the power company PG&E cut power to hundreds of thousands in northern California in an effort to prevent forest fires. Despite this, wildfires are emerging all throughout the state of California. Strong winds and low humidity have created the worst kind of weather conditions for wildfires. Over 90,000 buildings covering an evacuation zone are in danger of being burned down.
PG&E is facing bankruptcy due to dozens of previous wildfires started by their equipment. They have focused on the strategy that involves shutting off power to customers in areas where weather conditions threaten their electrical equipment. However, people raised more questions when PG&E’s computer system crashed twice and customers couldn’t reach their website just a few weeks ago.
According to the New York Times, president of PG&E William D. Johnson stated in a news conference, “I understand power shut-offs can be frustrating and make people angry… the fire risk has grown exponentially in the last couple of years.”
Californians, including the governor himself, have criticized PG&E for their lack of preparation before the fires started. The governor of California, Gavin Newsome, said in a New York Times article, “I must confess, it is infuriating beyond words. They are not meeting the protocols.”
Newsome declared a state-wide emergency on October 27 due to the continuous presence of strong winds. According to NPR, he said, “We are deploying every resource available, and are coordinating with numerous agencies as we continue to respond to these fires.”
The Kincade fire that broke out in Sonoma County doubled in size on October 28. Local authorities previously ordered over 180,000 people to evacuate from its path. As of October 30, only 15% of the fire is contained, and it has burned more than 117 square miles. That is more than twice the size of San Francisco, which covers roughly a 47-mile area.
The Getty fire, which ignited in the hills of northern Los Angeles, has burned around 618 acres of land so far. This fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. right next to Interstate 405, the busiest highway in the United States. Social media was swarmed with posts from people having to evacuate their homes, including Lebron James and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A tweet from Schwarzenegger on October 28 said, “We evacuated safely at 3:30 this morning. If you are in an evacuation zone, don’t screw around. Get out. Right now I am grateful for the best firefighters in the world, the true action heros who will charge into the danger to protect their fellow Californians.”
A major art museum in Getty was dangerously close to the fires. The Getty Center is a billion-dollar complex that houses an art museum with works from people such as Rembrandt, van Gogh, and Monet. Peter Sanders, a fire department spokesman, remarked that “There is no longer an imminent threat to the Getty Center.” Air tankers dropped fire retardant on the canyons to the west ahead of the fire to create a barrier and keep it intact.
In 2017 and 2018, some of the very same regions were affected by wildfires in California. A neighborhood in Santa Rosa called Coffey Park was almost destroyed in wine country fires from two years ago. It has been fully rebuilt, but now with the Kincade fire just a few miles away people are afraid of the worst happening all over again.
The New York Times posted a letter from a girl who lives two hours from the Kincade fire. She said, “There seems to always be a fire burning in California. Last year, during the Camp fire, my school cancelled classes, which was unheard of at the time… I am 16. I should not have to worry about the air quality or whether my power will be shut off. More preventative measures must be taken to prevent future fires, so that we never have to experience this again.”