LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KNBC) – California’s governor says he’s committed to getting through the state’s peak fire season with adequate resources.
Gov. Newsom said, “These conditions are multi-faceted, it’s not just dry weather. It’s high winds, low humidity, a consequence of these characteristics aligning as they have, we are taking precautions, not just the utilities, but the state itself.”
Because of dangerous weather conditions, Governor Gavin Newsom said power has been shut off to 178,000 customers in southern California. He anticipates more power shut-offs could affect an additional 350,000 people.
Governor Newsom explained his frustration with power companies. “It is infuriating beyond words to live in a state as innovative and extraordinarily entrepreneurial and capable as the state of California to be living in an environment where we are seeing this kind of disruption and these kinds of blackouts,” He said.
Newsom took a moment to address power companies not providing adequate notice for shutoffs and resources to those without power “We’ve been meeting on a consistent basis, every damn week with these guys laying out protocols and they’re not meeting those protocols, I don’t think they get it, but they’re about to get it,” he said. “We have a new director of the Public Utilities Commission, we have a different oversight capacity, they will be held to account.”
Additional fire strike teams, helicopters and dispatchers have been placed throughout the state to respond quickly if the weather worsens.
The California National Guard and a fleet of ambulances are on also standby to respond as necessary.
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