PG&E Power Outage: Live Updates as Californians Confront Blackout – The New York Times

Outside a Safeway grocery store just after dawn, dead traffic lights caused backups. Commuters toting travel mugs from homes without power begrudgingly got back in their cars without coffee when security guards informed them that the store would open late.

While many residents said they had received emails or calls warning them that PG&E may cut power at some point this week, most said they had trouble getting access to online maps and were unaware after a day of delays on Wednesday if the shut-off would actually happen.

Beth O’Shaughnessy and her family of four lost power at their Larkin Valley home with 13 horses, dogs and other pets around 11 p.m. on Wednesday night. Though the family has a generator for winter storms in the mountains, they had held off on stocking up food because of the uncertain timeline and long lines for fuel. “We weren’t sure if we would be able to get gas, so we didn’t want to get too much stuff,” she said. “One thing at a time, one meal. I’m kind of keeping that in the back of my head.”

Gayle Clark, a 69-year-old Air Force veteran, watched the commotion outside the grocery store with interest as he walked his brown Doberman. Mr. Clark, an electrical contractor who said he has worked for utilities elsewhere in the state, has for the past five months lived in a trailer with a generator after he was unable to find a landlord willing to accept a subsidized housing voucher. For as long as California’s fire problem endures, he expects similar scenes in the future. “This isn’t the end of this,” Mr. Clark said. “This is the beginning.”

Dear Reader:

I thought I would take a quick break from updating you on the fire and offer some personal reflections on how my day is going. I’m in my home office eating instant ramen noodles because it’s fast and half of my kitchen appliances don’t work. There’s no power in my neighborhood — we are in the zone where PG&E cut power — so the generator is humming in the backyard, keeping the computer on and the meat in the fridge from rotting. Last night I was woken up at 2 a.m. by my neighbor who texted me to say the town was on fire, which was only a slight exaggeration.

I opened the front door of our one-story ranch house and flames were shooting up from the hills. I’ve been writing about the high risk of fires during this peak fire period in California — and here it was on my doorstep. My wife started packing up the passports and computer hard drives into a carry-on bag. There was a stream of cars barreling down pitch-black streets honking their horns and all heading in one direction, evacuating.

I got on my motorcycle and drove in the opposite direction, toward the fire, because I’m a reporter and that’s what we do. Ash fell on my helmet like snowflakes and smoke filled my nostrils. Firefighters, who arrived from all over the county in a couple dozen trucks, were battling flames on the steep hillsides above and between houses. The fire had grown to 50 acres. I stayed for an hour, talked to some firefighters and when I saw they were getting the blaze under control rode back to my house. I walked gingerly across the driveway in the dark. Did I mention that my neighbor spotted a four-foot rattlesnake under his garage two days ago and then lost track of it? I’m worried it’s slithering around somewhere. — Thomas Fuller