Los Angeles Fire Forces Thousands to Evacuate as Power Returns for Some in Northern California

By Jennifer Calfas and Alejandro Lazo 

The effects of wildfires played havoc across California Friday, as power was restored for some customers in the north and thousands of residents in the south were forced to evacuate their homes as fires fueled by dry, powerful winds spread quickly.

Southern California Edison shut off power to more than 21,000 customers Friday and warned more blackouts may come amid dangerous conditions ripe with heavy winds fanning wildfires.

In the north, PG&E Corp. restored power for about half of the more than 738,000 customers affected by power shut-offs this week, as weather conditions there grew less severe. About 312,000 were without power Friday morning.

The intentional shut-offs in Southern California came as a powerful fire grew overnight near the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations for 12,700 homes and burning more than 4,000 acres by the early morning. The fast-moving inferno destroyed a number of homes in the San Fernando Valley and one commercial building, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Another wildfire scorched 500 acres off a Riverside County highway late Thursday, spreading through a mobile home park near the I-10 freeway and destroying 74 structures by the evening.

Millions of California residents and business owners this week grappled with mass blackouts as PG&E attempted to thwart the possibility of dangerous conditions fueling deadly fires that officials have characterized as the new normal. California's biggest utility company, PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year as the company faced liabilities for sparking a number of the state's disastrous wildfires.

A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found PG&E was aware of weaknesses in its power lines that could spark fires but failed to make necessary upgrades.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday blamed the blackouts in Northern and Central California on "greed and mismanagement" by PG&E.

"We are seeing the scale and scope of something that no state in the 21st century should experience; what's happened is unacceptable, and it has happened because of neglect," Mr. Newsom said at an operations center for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services in Mather, Calif.

The Democrat added that California is helping the company inspect thousands of miles of equipment and assisted it to relaunch a website that failed earlier this week, frustrating many residents seeking information about the blackouts.

Mr. Newsom challenged the notion that Californians should accept the massive threat of wildfire or power outages as a new normal.

"This is not from my perspective a climate change story as much as a story about greed and mismanagement over the course of decades," Mr. Newsom said. "They chose not to modernize their grid over the course of many, many years, it led to their own demise, it led to bankruptcy."

In a statement Friday morning, PG&E said shutting off power for safety is part of the company's wildfire safety program, which includes performing enhanced inspections of equipment in fire-prone areas, among other measures. The company has said it already has repaired or made spot fixes to the most severe problems it uncovered throughout its system, and it is working to prioritize and address remaining risks.

"We absolutely share the state's focus on reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires in California and that's why we took this action, " the company said.

"We have learned valuable lessons that will help shape how we conduct future events, both in our operations and our communications," it said.

Write to Jennifer Calfas at [e-mail] and Alejandro Lazo at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2019 10:39 ET (14:39 GMT)

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