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U.S. NEWS Friday 25 OctOber 2019

Thousands ordered to leave as Northern California fire rages

Continued from Front wildfire victims while facing Santa Rosa rental home
a public backlash over its during one of those fires
“Please heed our evacua- handling of the incidents. and fled the flames again
tion order,” he said in a tel- PG&E announced Wednes- Thursday after Mary’s asth-
evised news conference. day that it would begin roll- ma awakened her around
“We really need to be able ing power outages, last- 2:30 a.m. Their power was
to fight the fire, rather than ing for 48 hours, in parts still on when they grabbed
worrying about rescuing of Northern California in their small dogs, some
you.” The fire raged amid anticipation of danger- clothes and emergency
rolling blackouts that utili- ous fire conditions, includ- kits they acquired during
ties in California have said ing unseasonably hot the last fire.
are designed to keep winds weather and low humidity “I told him, ‘We gotta go,
that could top 70 mph combined with the strong we gotta go; I can feel it
(113 kph) from knocking winds. PG&E spokesman changing,’” Mary Ceglar- A firefighter sprays water on a burning home as the Kincade
branches into power lines Paul Doherty said parts of ski-Sherwin told the Santa Fire burns through the Jimtown community of unincorporated
or toppling them, sparking Geyserville lost power as Rosa Press-Democrat. “By Sonoma County, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019.
wildfires. Electrical equip- scheduled Wednesday. the time we got out there, Associated Press
ment was blamed for set- Other utilities also cut pow- we could feel the heat and Gov. Gavin Newsom an- from the Sierra foothills in
ting several blazes in recent er Wednesday and Thurs- see the smoke.’” nounced that the state the northeast to portions
years that killed scores of day to some residents in The fire also threatened had secured a grant from of the San Francisco Bay
people and burned thou- Southern California, where some of the area’s famed the Federal Emergency Area, affecting a half-
sands of homes. at least two fires had erupt- wineries. The Francis Ford Management Agency to million people — or nearly
The state’s largest electric ed. Those blazes have re- Coppola Winery posted on help fight the fire. He did 180,000 customers.
utility, Pacific Gas & Elec- mained small. Facebook that its property not say how money the In Southern California, hot
tric, filed for bankruptcy Many Geyserville residents, was without power but “not state would get. and dry Santa Ana winds
protection in January as it including Bosworth, lived currently in danger.” The Newsom, a Democrat, is prompted Southern Cali-
faced billions of dollars of through fires that tore Robert Young Estate Win- among those who have fornia Edison to cut power
damages from such wild- through the same area two ery said in an 8 a.m. post criticized PG&E and other to more than 15,000 cus-
fires. The investor-owned years ago, killing 44 people. that “there is fire on our utilities for the rolling black- tomers. The utility was con-
energy company has set Mary Ceglarski-Sherwin property” affecting brush outs and their handling of sidering additional power
aside billions of dollars for and her husband, Matt and pasture areas but not wildfire dangers. PG&E’s cuts to more than 286,000
insurance companies and Ceglarski-Sherwin, lost their structures or people. power outages stretched customers.q