High Winds Force Power Shutoffs As PG&E Works To Prevent 'Catastrophic Wildfires'
VACAVILLE (CBS13) - A windy start to the week forced PG&E to cut off power to thousands of homes to prevent potential wildfires.
Just more than a year ago the LNU Complex Fire was burning along Cherry Glen Road in Vacaville, destroying everything in its path.
"It burned right to our property line. All the way around," said Randy Fair, who owns a home on Cherry Glen Road.
"We got evacuated for about three weeks. My thought was keep the family safe get the animals out," said Fair, who, one year later, faces a similar threat with wind and dry conditions in Solano County
One year later, wind and dry conditions threaten Fair's home once again.
"If we can avoid going through that process again it would be good," said Fair.
Wind whipped through Solano County on Monday, keeping agencies on their toes. The California Highway Patrol worked to clear tree branches from the highway and PG&E cut power to thousands.
"As soon as they saw the high wind event coming into our service area we started de-energizing power to 25,000 customers in 25 different counties," said PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland.
McFarland says the goal is to prevent wildfires.
"We can have trees come down -- branches come into contact with our powerlines. If those lines are energized it can create a spark," she said.
"I'm glad they shut down the power, but at the same time, it's a struggle," said Fair, who bought a generator so his family wouldn't lose power.
"Living off a generator can be tough. Gas is rather expensive. Who's going to reimburse us? Nobody. We still have to pay our PGE bill," said Fair.
PG&E says they understand the frustration but their priority is fire prevention.
"It is so hard when you don't have that day-to-day power. Our goal with any public safety power shutoff is to prevent a catastrophic wildfire," said Macfarland.
PG&E tells us it's likely the area will have power restored by tomorrow afternoon.
