GAVIN NEWSOM, SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN AND THEIR PAYMASTERS PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC BURN DOWN CALIFORNIA - "PG&E alone is responsible for over 1,500 fires, including 16 major fires in 2017. Eleven of those sixteen were determined to involve PG&E negligence."

New California wildfire explodes to 8,000 acres

UPI

1 Nov 20199

Oct. 31 (UPI) — California’s busy fire season grew worse when a new blaze exploded to more than 8,000 acres in a matter of hours south of Santa Paula and was still spreading, prompting officials to issue mandatory evacuations for 7,500 residents.

The blaze, dubbed the Maria Fire, started at 6:14 p.m. Thursday on South Mountain and quickly spread to 750 acres in less than two hours by strong, east winds, the Ventura County Fire Department said.

By early Friday, it had exploded to 8,300 acres with zero percent contained, according to Ventura County.

More than 400 firefighters were battling the wind-driven brush fire from the air and ground on the upper ridge of the mountain, it said in an update, adding that “additional firefighters have been requested.”

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said in an evening press conference that 1,800 structures were under threat of the fire and about 100 deputy sheriffs, with the help of volunteers, were aiding in the evacuations.

He said aerial efforts were impeded by someone using a drone to photograph the fire, causing a dangerous situation.

With the blaze occurring high on the mountain’s ridge, the fire department was given the time needed to conduct evacuations, but the location is causing difficulty to hem in its perimeter, said Ventura Fire Assistant Chief John McNeil.

“We got access issues getting to the actual edges of the fire,” he said. “So, at this time our efforts are evacuations, getting close into the structures, providing structure defense where we can. Second to that will be perimeter control.”

He said “this is not Thomas fire,” referring to the state’s massive 2017 fire, and that Maria Fire will eventually “run out of fuel.”

“We’re looking at 12,000 acres at the biggest footprint on this,” he said.

Fire Cheif Mark Lorenzen said while the fire may look close, they are working to keep it to the north of State Route 118.

“That is our goal and intention is to keep it there,” he said. “We are actively engaged in structural protection as well as protecting the agricultural assets there with avocado and citrus orchards that have significant values.”

Evacuation orders were ordered for an area within South Mountain Road to the north, Highway 118 to the south, Balcom Canyon to the east and Los Angeles Avenue to the west, the department said.

Ventura County Office of Education announced that most of its public schools and several charter schools would be closed on Friday.

The fired erupted as Ventura County was already busy with Easy Fire near Los Angeles and crews were battling at least 10 wind-stoked blazes statewide, including the Hillside Fire that started earlier Thursday on the northern end of San Bernardino.

Officials said and multiple homes near the Waterman Canyon area caught fire because of Hillside. San Bernardino is about 50 miles due east of Los Angeles.

Mandatory evacuations were in order for 490 homes, affecting some 1,300 people.

As of 6 p.m., firefighters had the Hillside Fire 50 percent contained, the San Bernardino County Fire District said. Emergency officials transported one firefighter to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, the department said.

A total of six houses have been destroyed and 18 others have been damaged, San Bernando County Fire said.

#HillsideFire (Update): Evacuations are to be lifted tonight at 6pm for residents only. #SBCoFD OFM Damage Assessment Team has done their damage assessment. 140 homes assessed, 6 destroyed, 18 damaged. Edison is aware of power outages in Evac area. No ETA on restoration of power. pic.twitter.com/NgwT3iQaBw— SB County Fire (@SBCOUNTYFIRE) October 31, 2019

“Crews will remain on-scene throughout the night reinforcing containment lines [with] wind shifts expected,” the department said on Twitter.

Officials were investigating the cause of the fire, which originated in an area with no power lines.

Closer to Los Angeles, firefighters fought Wednesday to protect the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., from the Easy Fire, which approached the historical property from a nearby hillside. The fire burned nearly 1,800 acres and was 60 percent contained by Thursday night, Cal Fire said.

Officials said a change in wind speed and direction helped save the library from approaching flames — as well as a herd of goats.

“We actually worked with the Ventura County Fire Department in May and they bring out hundreds of goats to our property,” Melissa Giller, a spokeswoman for the Reagan library, said. “The goats eat all of the brush around the entire property, creating a fire perimeter.”

Water-carrying helicopters also made repeated water drops behind the library, which opened in 1991 and is the resting place for the former president, who died in 2004, as well as former first lady Nancy Reagan, who died in 2016.

The Getty Fire, which began Tuesday on the west side of downtown Los Angeles, has burned nearly 750 acres and was 39 percent contained, the Los Angeles City Fire Department said Thursday.

“The Getty Fire Incident Command continues to monitor the affected fire areas, as well as those areas remaining closed due to critical infrastructure concerns or safety hazards,” the LAFD said.

“The Los Angeles Police Department will have a strong presence in the repopulated and evacuated areas for the next several days to ensure the protection of residents and their property.”

The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County burned more than 77,758 acres and was 65 percent contained as of Thursday morning. The Tick Fire in Los Angeles County grew to 4,615 acres but was 100 percent under control.

FEINSTEIN, PELOSI AND GAVIN 

NEWSOM ARE ALL SERVANTS 

OF WALL STREET. 

THEY HAVE DESTROYED CALIFORNIA AS THE GOLDEN STATE.

 

 

"Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom, for all his rhetoric about PG&E’s “greed” and “mismanagement,” has made clear that the state is more interested in shoring up the financial wealth of the utility companies than aiding working people affected by the fires."

More fires ignite as wildfire season deepens in California

Five additional wildfires broke out in Southern California on Wednesday as the state descends further into wildfire season, which has dramatically intensified due to climate change and decades of corporate and governmental negligence. At present, Cal Fire reports 11 active fires statewide, with the largest remaining the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County, which has burned over 76,000 acres and is only 60 percent contained.

Reports have surfaced indicating that a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) transmission line malfunctioned near the point of origin of the Kincade Fire, potentially implicating the utility monopoly in yet another in a long line of devastating wildfires. Similarly, four of the other active fires in Southern California are believed to have been caused by malfunctioning transmission lines or downed power lines, under the purview of Southern California Edison (SCE), the main utility monopoly in the region.

The five new fires include the Hillside Fire in San Bernardino, the 46 Fire and Hill Fire in Riverside, the Easy Fire in Ventura and the Copper Fire in San Diego, which have burned a combined 2,700 acres as of this writing.

The Hill Fire has prompted mandatory evacuations and has already destroyed six homes, while the 46 Fire has burned at least five buildings. Both fires have been fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds, which are expected to continue, as the National Weather Service said the dangerous “red flag” conditions in Southern California would remain at least through Thursday evening.

In Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles, flames from the Easy Fire came close to damaging the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as well as nearby neighborhoods, and have forced roughly 30,000 people to evacuate their homes. The fire broke out just before dawn Wednesday and was fueled by wind gusts of up to 70 mph, with residents telling local media, “we only had seconds to get out.”

Meanwhile, firefighters have made “significant progress” on the Kincade Fire in Northern California, according to Cal Fire representative Jonathan Cox. At present, roughly 5,000 residents remain under evacuation orders, while at its peak the fire forced an estimated 200,000 people to evacuate the surrounding region.

The fire has destroyed 141 homes, while more than 90,000 structures remain threatened. Further, at least 53,000 homes and businesses across Northern California remain impacted by PG&E power shutoffs, after the company cut electricity to millions in a desperate attempt to prevent new fires.

The impact of global warming on wildfires has been increasingly verified through scientific research. A recent study published in the journal Earth’s Future found that, “Since the early 1970s, California’s annual wildfire extent increased fivefold, punctuated by extremely large and in and ”

The researchers concluded, “This trend was mainly due to an eightfold increase in summertime forest-fire area and was very likely driven by drying of fuels promoted by human-induced warming.”

The study notes that the moisture deficit—the difference between the amount of water currently in the atmosphere and the amount of water it can hold—has not caught up over the past decade as average temperatures have risen over 2 degrees Fahrenheit. This lower relative humidity causes vegetation to dry out faster, creating fuel for fires.

The conclusion of the study pointed to a spiraling feedback loop in which the severity and regularity of fires increases as a result of accelerating global warming, in turn producing further greenhouse gas emissions, thus worsening global warming and creating more fires.

Indeed, 14 of the 20 worst fires in Californian history have happened since 2007, with the state having 78 more annual “fire days” than it did half a century ago. While 2018 was the worst year in terms of destruction and lives lost, each year is now set to surpass the previous records. A state commissioned report found that the average burn area in California will increase 77 percent by the end of the century.

Cal Fire, the main state agency tasked with fighting fires, has spent $4.7 billion in the last ten years alone. The agency’s funds are usually depleted a few months into the new year, leaving very little resources to clear out overgrown forests and help residents prepare for future fires.

As a result of the insufficient funding of Cal Fire, the state increasingly exploits prison labor to battle fires. California has some 3,100 inmates in the Conservation Camp program to help authorities with emergencies, of whom 2,150 are allowed to fight fires. They are paid a minuscule $2.90 to $5.12 a day, plus an additional $1 an hour while fighting fires, turning one of society’s most important occupations into virtual slave labor.

Despite the deadly conditions in these prisoners’ firefighting battalions, those employed are unable to become firefighters or emergency responders once they leave prison, due to their criminal records.

Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom, for all his rhetoric about PG&E’s “greed” and “mismanagement,” has made clear that the state is more interested in shoring up the financial wealth of the utility companies than aiding working people affected by the fires.

So far the state has created a $21 billion compensation fund to pay for future claims against the utility companies, which will be paid for with equal contributions from the companies and their customers, including the victims of fires caused by their faulty equipment.

Newsom has also mandated the three largest utilities to invest a total of $5 billion to upgrade and fireproof their equipment. In an interview with Capital Public Radio, Newsom was asked if the state had “the power to force PG&E to pay customers for their losses that were the result of the blackout?”

Newsom’s answer was that the state would 

try to make PG&E “do the right thing” but 

ultimately, it was an “open question” and the 

company “may not be legally required” to do 

anything.

The cost of wildfires on state finances has taken a heavy toll, as the state has surpassed its annual firefighting budget in seven of the last ten years. In 2018 alone, the state spent nearly $1 billion on firefighting, far exceeding the budget of $450 million.

The financial cost shouldered by homeowners is staggering as well, with $10 billion in insured losses each year over the past two fire seasons. The lingering air pollution causes local air districts to issue warnings to wear masks and avoid outdoor exercise. Thousands of residents have gone to the emergency room for respiratory illnesses, which can continue for months and cause long-term damage to the most vulnerable segments of the population.

PG&E "can tell you what to do and you have to pay them money"

Growing outrage over PG&E role in California fire disaster

 

Fires continued throughout California Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands evacuated and many more without power. Calmer winds prevented the most significant fires—the 75,000-acre Kincade fire north of San Francisco and the smaller, but more urban, Getty fire in Los Angeles—from growing substantially. At the time of this writing, officials warn that an intense rise in winds Tuesday night and Wednesday could reverse this—leading to a resurgence of the over fifteen fires currently burning, and potentially causing new ones.

A helicopter drops water while battling the Kincade Fire near Healdsburg, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Millions of people have been without power for days as fire crews race to contain two major wind-whipped blazes that have destroyed dozens of homes at both ends of the state: in Sonoma County wine country and in the hills of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is one of the regional utility monopolies that dominate the state and extract billions of dollars each year in profits. Along with Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, PG&E has been shutting off electricity to entire regions of the state affecting some 3 million people.

The World Socialist Website spoke to students and workers across the state who are outraged by how regular these devastating fires have become.

Steve, a teacher from Santa Cruz , described how his hometown had become a “ghost town,” There is “no work for most of us, no traffic lights, no water, just darkness.” He asked, “Why do we have to pay for the mistakes and lack of foresight on the part of PG&E? PG&E is a private utility company and can tell you what to do and you have to pay them money. There are no infrastructure modifications being done and considered.”

Jazmin, a graduate student at UC Berkeley, who is an expert on PG&E negligence and was previously interviewed by the WSWS, said, “At this time most of my family in the North Bay has been displaced as homes are threatened by the fast-moving flames.” Preoccupied with helping her family, she said, “I am not in a place to make an intellectual argument as to why the electrical monopoly isn’t suited for handling our power sources... I also think one isn’t needed. Just look at where we are and all of the devastation their mismanagement has brought.”

A map of regional utility monopolies courtesy of the state Energy Commission

Masha, a hotel worker from Mill Valley, told the WSWS, “Being without power for a short period of time isn’t really the hard part. It’s more the fact that you don’t know how long it will be. They say 24 to 48 hours but then they need to check all the lines and that can take another 12 to 24 hours apparently. They had a hard time checking the lines in time for the shut off that started on Saturday because of the smoke, so that shut off was more like 65 hours. I know they tell you to prepare for several days and most people were prepared physically but it’s more what it does with you mentally when you don’t know when your life will be back to normal. It also didn’t help that their website is never updated. I got all my updates from the local sheriff department and even they had a hard time getting accurate and timely information.”

“Personally, it’s scary,” she continued “our little one was scared in the pitch black and it was hard to keep him warm at night. The hotel I work at lost revenue for 3 full days that had been almost sold out. Not to mention all the restaurants and super markets that had to toss all their perishable foods.”

James, a retired teacher living in Berkeley, described how the power cuts affected his family. “Our power went out on Saturday evening and was restored on Monday at 4 PM. PG&E has warned that power will probably be cut on Tuesday and not be restored for several days. Unlike nearly 200,000 people further north, we did not have to evacuate, but the cut-off was disruptive. We lost computer connections, internet, and e-mail, all of which hampered work. News was harder to get. Loss of refrigeration meant all frozen food melted and much other food in the refrigerator is questionable. The microwave oven, washing machine, coffee maker, etc. did not work. Planning meals was suddenly a lot more difficult than usual.”

He continued, “The unpredictability of when the next outage comes and how long it will last, is disconcerting. If it is prolonged, we will probably move in with relatives in unaffected areas, but there are no guarantees. Compared to people who lost their homes or had to evacuate, we have been much better off, but if, as PG&E is saying, this pattern of hard-to-predict cut-offs will be the ‘new normal’ for the next ten years, thoughts of how to deal with what is a systemic crisis are inescapable.”

Jamie, a writer from Alameda, expressed hostility to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s response. “He’s like a used Porsche salesman!” Jamie connected the fire crisis to the broader social crisis. “The state is a mess. There are so many people living in boxes. Tents, shanties, cars and RV’s. It’s just amazingly sad. Feels like end times.”

The WSWS met Gemma, a Swiss immigrant at one of the refugee centers in Los Angeles. Speaking about the power cuts she said, “at first I thought ‘that’s smart,’ but really, that’s not smart! If you have to suddenly leave because of a fire and your fridge is down your internet and your phone is down, or not charged, you can’t bring food with you, you can’t contact people. I think it should have been handled differently.

Gemma

“In Europe they put all the cables underground. Maybe some aren’t but the majority are underground... I think if they modernized, seriously did something about it, it would have to be at the state level, not just one company. That would change something I think."

The three main regional monopolies have been responsible for over 2,000 wildfires in California since the state began requiring them to report incidents in 2014. PG&E alone is responsible for over 1,500 fires, including 16 major fires in 2017. Eleven of those sixteen were determined to involve PG&E negligence.