NAPA, California. – Pacific Gas & Electric began shutting off power in parts of Northern California on Thursday due to dry and windy weather conditions.

Shutoffs have already begun in portions of Tehama, Glenn, Shasta and Colusa counties, according to the latest PG&E outage map.

The Bay Area is under a Red Flag Warning that began at 11 p.m. Thursday and continues through 5 p.m. Saturday

In many Bay Area counties, what PG&E calls a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) warning, which coincides with the Red Flag Warning, is in effect through Saturday. PG&E says it may shut off power in the following Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma.

“The forecast continues to indicate that dry and gusty winds are expected for portions of the PG&E service area later today into Saturday. As a result, all counties being considered for PSPS have been moved to PSPS alert status,” the PG&E forecast website states.

The PSPS warnings also apply to Santa Cruz, Lake, Monterey and Yolo counties, as well as other counties in northern and central California.

In Dublin, more than 6,900 customers were without power on Thursday afternoon, although the outage was not classified as a PSPS.

PG&E told KTVU that the outage in Dublin was related to Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS). They say the cause is under investigation but the EPSS is activated. This type of activation can often be caused by debris in the area or a tree touching a power line, PG&E said.

“To keep our customers and communities safe, we have enhanced safety settings on our power lines that automatically shut off power in a tenth of a second or faster when a wildfire threat is detected. These settings are referred to as “Enhanced Power Line Safety Settings, or EPSS,” the utility said. The utility said power was expected to be restored by 10 p.m

Meanwhile, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said they have mobilized statewide to prepare for the weather-related fire threat. The Bay Area is participating in the additional fire engines and other resources being sent to the state’s northern counties.

“Cal OES has strategically prepositioned fire engines and personnel in multiple counties to respond when needed,” the state agency said in a news release.

A sign of the times in the North Bay

“It’s a sign of the times. You have to be prepared for anything these days,” said Anna Southerland. She and her husband, John, were preparing for the planned power outage in their Sonoma neighborhood.

“As an insulin-dependent diabetic without a generator, this is a critical issue for me,” said John Southernland. “I need to get some ice and put my insulin on ice.”

Still, the couple understands the reasons for PG&E’s planned outages. With strong winds and dry conditions expected across much of the Bay Area through Saturday, conditions are ripe for a wildfire.

In San Rafael, representatives from fire departments from across the North Bay are gathering to prepare for the weather.

“I’m hoping for a nice, quiet night and a nice, quiet few days, but we’re here just in case and we’ll be ready if we need to,” said Jeff Davidson, North Bay incident management liaison.

He helps coordinate with first responders in the area to expedite the response to a fire or other emergency.

“Instead of looking for resources, we kind of have them in our back pocket, so we position engines and crews, bulldozers, aircraft and emergency management teams in geographic areas so we can respond more quickly,” said Santa Rosa Fire Marshal and Division Chief Paul Lowenthal. “We’ve really asked residents over the last few days to be prepared. And that includes everything from clearing leaves from gutters to making sure duffel bags are ready and people have a plan in case a fire breaks out and you need to evacuate.

Several community resource centers with charging stations, blankets and snacks have been set up for those in the North Bay affected by the power outages. In Sonoma there is one at the First Congregational Church on West Spain Street.

Driest time of the year – watch out in the East Bay hills

The red flag warning forced some roads to be closed, and firefighters patrolled the Oakland hills late into the night looking for sparks or signs of flames.

We went to Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland Hills. The park will remain closed until noon Friday due to the red flag warning, but that could change when the National Weather Service releases updated forecasts.

While the park looks like a beautiful wooded area, firefighters see tons of dried out fuel that can burn. It is the driest time of the year.

Multiple fire departments are preparing for what could be a busy night in Alameda County.

Alameda County Fire Battalion Chief Kent Carlin said wind and low humidity were the main factors here. Winds could gust to 60 miles per hour. Firefighters say a single spark could have catastrophic consequences.

“Tonight we will be closing Grizzly Peak Boulevard from Centennial to Skyline. This is common practice for us whenever we have warning signals or on the 4th of July because for us this is an area with dense vegetation, so if there is a fire outbreak, “In this area it could be a huge problem for us” said Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief Anthony Sanders.

The fire that broke out in the Oakland Hills in 1991 still has an impact on how firefighters handle dangerous situations. People we spoke with say fire is often in the back of their minds when they enjoy the outdoors in the East Bay.

Henry Schroder and his friend Eitan Schotland often ride the trails near Joaquin Miller Park. They would be sad if it were lost in a preventable fire.

“It’s so important to me to have this park and it would be really (unfortunate) to see it go up in flames,” said Schotland, a Bentley High School student. “I love how green it is up here because the fog comes in, it stays pretty lush here all the time and it would be really nice to keep that green shelter.”

Before the closure, it wasn’t just mountain bikers in the park.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Katie Stone celebrated their wedding in the park on Thursday. They said they were lucky they were stopped before the red flag warnings.

“We’re from Southern California, and so I think…fires are something, we’ve lived in California our whole lives, and fires are something we’re very clear about,” Katie said.

The Oakland Fire Department patrols the Oakland hills with two other engine companies. That’s a total of eight additional firefighters, but they said they can’t prevent fires on their own.

“The community can help by not having open campfires or anything like that. We want to prevent people from doing this, no matter what their source of ignition is,” Sanders said.

Potential power outages in the Bay Area

The recent public safety power shutoffs could impact an estimated 20,000 customers in 24 counties. PG&E has released the following list of the estimated number of affected customers in each county.

• Alameda County: 422 customers, 24 Medical Baseline customers
• Butte County: 1,153 customers, 87 Medical Baseline customers
• Colusa County: 606 customers, 30 Medical Baseline customers
• Contra Costa County: 973 customers, 59 Medical Baseline customers
• Fresno County: 1,235 customers, 75 Medical Baseline customers
• Glenn County: 508 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
• Lake County: 1,088 customers, 83 Medical Baseline customers
• Madera County: 1,310 customers, 109 Medical Baseline customers
• Mariposa County: 640 customers, 15 Medical Baseline customers
• Mendocino County: 13 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Merced County: 27 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Monterey County: 597 customers, 21 Medical Baseline customers
• Napa County: 3,103 customers, 135 Medical Baseline customers
• Plumas County: 316 customers, 11 Medical Baseline customers
• San Benito County: 24 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Barbara County: 155 customers, 4 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Clara County: 663 customers, 41 Medical Baseline customers
• Santa Cruz County: 132 customers, 8 Medical Baseline customers
• Shasta County: 2,407 customers, 194 Medical Baseline customers
• Solano County: 1,838 customers, 159 Medical Baseline customers
• Sonoma County: 1,010 customers, 23 Medical Baseline customers
• Stanislaus County: 27 customers, 0 Medical Baseline customers
• Tehama County: 2,056 customers, 199 Medical Baseline customers
• Yolo County: 262 customers, 15 Medical Baseline customers

Bay Area fire departments are increasing their staffing and keeping a close eye on dangerous weather conditions.

As the weather changes rapidly, new advanced technologies are playing a major role with nearly 1,600 weather stations and 600 to 1,000 cameras throughout the PG&E territory.

“We use our high-resolution weather models that come in multiple times a day, four times a day. This is also coupled with the machine learning models we receive from our individual weather stations. So the scope is constantly being refined,” said Scott Strenfel, a meteorologist with PG&E.

In Angwin, residents are preparing for possible closures affecting up to 2,700 customers.