Santa Ana winds fan brush fires across Southern California, utilities cut power to more than 150,000 customers
Shutoffs follow the liability regime that drove PG&E into bankruptcy
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Hot, windy weather stokes brush fires in Southern California; power turned off for many – WTOP News
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More than 150,000 customers across California woke up without electricity on Friday as brush fires burned from Malibu to Camp Pendleton. The power had not failed — utilities switched it off before the wind arrived.
Hot, dry Santa Ana gusts were forecast to reach 50 to 70 mph in the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains, and the National Weather Service said dropping humidity would "favor a critical fire weather threat." A rapidly spreading blaze in Malibu brought evacuation orders and warnings across a large stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains, its smoke visible for miles. Overnight, more than 285 firefighters battled the Bryson Fire as it grew to about 200 acres and forced the evacuation of a Los Angeles County juvenile detention and rehabilitation facility. Fires near Azusa and at Camp Pendleton prompted evacuation orders that were lifted by evening. "It's a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert," said Rose Schoenfeld, a Weather Service meteorologist.
The blackouts are the other half of the event. Some of California's worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment, and the state holds utilities liable for the fires their lines ignite — a doctrine Pacific Gas and Electric tested through bankruptcy in 2019 under wildfire claims. Utilities have since learned that when the Santa Anas blow, an open switch costs less than a jury. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, criticized over her city's response to deadly fires in 2025, deployed firefighters ahead of the winds and requested state assistance; the hot, windy conditions were expected to last through the weekend.
Pacific Gas and Electric said the interruptions — stretching from the Central Coast to the upper corners of the Sierra Nevada — could last through Saturday afternoon.