SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dry, windy weather is posing an extreme wildfire risk in Northern California, where massive blazes already have cost hundreds of homes and killed or injured dozens of people.
The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning from 5 a.m. through Friday morning.
With bone-dry humidity and wind gusts possibly hitting 55 mph, Pacific Gas & Electric warned that it may begin cutting power Wednesday evening to as many as 54,000 customers in 24 counties.
The nation's largest utility was expected to make a decision earlier Wednesday on whether to implement the preemptive electricity cuts in an effort to prevent fires from being started by damaged power lines fouled or knocked down in high winds.
