Southern California Wind Advisory Prompts Power Cuts as Brush Fires Erupt

Utilities disconnect electricity to more than 80,000 customers statewide while firefighters battle fast-moving blazes in Malibu, Azusa, and San Diego County during the season's opening offshore gale.

LOS ANGELES - Tens of thousands of residents lost electricity and several foothill neighborhoods evacuated Friday as a widespread Southern California wind advisory and Red Flag Warning accompanied the season first Santa Ana windstorm. Forecasters warned that ferocious northeast gusts peaking at 70 mph, summerlike heat, and bone-dry vegetation would sustain critical wildfire conditions across the region before winds gradually subside on Saturday.

Emergency crews battled multiple wind-whipped blazes that ignited as offshore airflows compressed and heated while descending coastal mountain ranges, pushing afternoon temperatures into the upper 80s and mid-90s. In Malibu, the Bryson Fire erupted shortly before 5:00 p.m. local time, consuming at least 200 acres of coastal brush and prompting mandatory evacuation orders for surrounding canyon properties.

Farther inland, the Peak Fire broke out in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills north of Azusa in Los Angeles County. Approximately 200 firefighters supported by water-dropping helicopters attacked the 20-acre brush fire as sheriff deputies ordered nearby residents to evacuate, according to county fire spokesman Jonathan Torres. In northern San Diego County near Camp Pendleton, the Henderson Fire scorched more than 1,000 acres, threatening commercial structures and high-voltage transmission corridors.

National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld urged vigilance across the entire metropolitan basin, noting that sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph were generating gusts between 50 and 70 mph across the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains, alongside 40 to 50 mph gusts near the coastline. Critical fire weather alerts also stretched into Santa Barbara County and the Santa Lucia Mountains in San Luis Obispo County. While recent moisture from Tropical Storm Rachel tempered risks near San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura counties have remained parched for six consecutive months, creating volatile fuel beds.

To prevent energized equipment from sparking catastrophic ignitions during peak gusts, major electric utilities initiated widespread Public Safety Power Shutoffs across the state. Southern California Edison disconnected service to roughly 19,000 customers across Los Angeles, Ventura, and Kern counties on Thursday, while alerting an additional 245,000 accounts that their electricity could be severed depending on localized wind thresholds. More than half of those threatened Southern California accounts, approximately 124,000 customers, are concentrated in fire-prone Ventura County corridors.

Precautionary blackouts proved even more extensive across Northern and Central California, where strong offshore winds prompted simultaneous Red Flag Warnings across 29 counties. Pacific Gas and Electric Company cut power to nearly 62,000 customers spanning 26 counties across the Sierra Nevada foothills, wine country, and the Central Coast, warning that up to 90,000 customers could experience service interruptions lasting into Saturday afternoon. Meteorologists noted that Santa Ana wind events typically commence in September and October as high pressure builds over the Great Basin, before reaching peak intensity during December and January.

State and municipal leaders mobilized extensive firefighting resources ahead of the windstorm, determined to avoid a repeat of the devastating January 2025 infernos. During that disaster, hurricane-force gusts between 60 and 100 mph drove the Palisades Fire through coastal Los Angeles neighborhoods, claiming twelve lives, while the simultaneous blaze in Altadena killed nineteen people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and businesses. Investigators later determined the Altadena catastrophe was ignited by sparks from an idle Southern California Edison transmission tower.

California Governor Gavin Newsom placed the State Operations Center on enhanced readiness through Sunday to coordinate mutual-aid engines and aerial tankers. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass directed municipal fire officials to pre-deploy strike teams across vulnerable hillside communities and requested supplemental state emergency assets.

We are augmenting our staffing, positioning our people and pre-deploying equipment ahead of this weather so we are ready before the first call comes in, Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore said, urging homeowners to keep neighborhood streets clear for emergency vehicles and remain prepared to evacuate immediately.

Source:

 FOX Weather 

 KTLA 5 News