burritos said:

---

How much would it cost to have a fleet of jetliners with fire ******ant at the ready, and some flying in the air during high risk times to snuff out fires? It can't be more expensive than rebuilding entire cities every other year can it? Aren't they retiring a bunch of passenger planes with the new planes all the time? Any chance to retask this retiring fleet for such a purpose?

---

Maybe convert idle Max 737s to air tankers???
Of course they might crash during dives...

As one who lives in the mountains and is involved in Firewise and Firesafe, I can tell you that decades of natural fire suppression and ill informed "environmentalists " who fight every effort to thin and maintain a healthy forest have combined with climate change to create tinder box waiting to explode. I would say 'a disaster waiting to happen' but it is too late for that.
Watch "Inside the Megafire" on Nova.

going4roses said:

---

Those responsible ain't worth a squirt of piss

https://www.kqed.org/news/11737336/judge-pge-paid-out-stock-dividends-instead-of-trimming-trees

---

Time to get out the guillotines.

Huge power outages show PG&E is 'out of control,' critics say - SFChronicle.com


https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Huge-power-outages-show-PG-E-is-out-of-14505078.php

MSaviolives said:

---

Sonofafurd said:

---

MSaviolives said:

---

MSaviolives said:

---

I can't get over the fact that PG&E has given clear notice that it intended to implement these blackouts for many months, and yet suddenly yesterday--for the first time and only hours before the expected blackout--Caltrans says that it can't keep the tunnels open. So a scramble ensues, apparently resulting in PG&E bringing in generators. Is there any explanation other than that nobody at Caltrans thought of this problem until yesterday morning?

---

Answering my own question, apparently Caltrans didn't foresee that power in both CoCo and Alameda Counties might be shut down at the same time.

---

I see where Caltrans is coming from. It's a real bear for earthquakes to get permission to cross county lines.

---

For some context, 160,000 vehicles go through the Caldecott Tunnel on weekdays. And yet, Caltrans didn't see this coming as an issue that might need to be addressed in advance...go figure.

---

As an example of the dire state of utility management, Caltrans did have two separate power grids available for the Tunnels. What they didn't expect was that PG&E would shut down both grids, on each side of the Oakland Hills. To be connected to two separate electrical grids is increasingly rare with corporate consolidations.

Sitting in my moms house in Pinole. Cold inside. Very unhappy people in Pinole. Some generators running.

Ironically, the wind seems to be blowing pretty hard this afternoon, after laying low all day yesterday and this morning. That wind ... so deceptive, you never know what it's going to do. Maybe it could be our Offensive Coordinator!

Wow, then there is pretty scary shot of San Bruno Mountain in Brisbane (where the power wasn't turned off):





https://patch.com/california/southsanfrancisco/three-alarm-brush-fire-burning-san-bruno-mountain

Any guesses on how that possibly started?

Editorial: Massive power shutdowns cannot become the new normal


http://www.mercurynews.com/editorial-massive-power-shutdowns-cannot-become-the-new-normal-for-pge
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/10/editorial-massive-power-shutdowns-cannot-become-the-new-normal-for-pge/amp

bluehenbear said:

---

going4roses said:

---

Those responsible ain't worth a squirt of piss

https://www.kqed.org/news/11737336/judge-pge-paid-out-stock-dividends-instead-of-trimming-trees

---

Time to get out the guillotines.

---

Or the stones

Is there definitive evidence/proof that trimming trees would in fact prevent these huge fires?

off topic.

bearister said:

---

Editorial: Massive power shutdowns cannot become the new normal


http://www.mercurynews.com/editorial-massive-power-shutdowns-cannot-become-the-new-normal-for-pge
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/10/editorial-massive-power-shutdowns-cannot-become-the-new-normal-for-pge/amp

---

Got to agree with a lot of points here. Winds like this will happen again, and not just once every 100 years or something. You can't disable so much of the state every time it happens.

If more investment is required from the state, then let PG&E make that argument. It will probably come with more oversight, but that's how it goes.

How many more large corporations are run exactly like this?

Hey so it turns out the old, defunct, commie rag, the SF Bay Guardian was right all these years about PG&E. Those guys use to editorialize about PG&E all the time...and this was before San Bruno.

In any case, SF has made an offer to PG&E for infrastructure. I assume other cities and counties will follow.

Power on in pinole

Quite a contrast between PG&E than with SCE. SCE actually had reporters in their bunker where they made decisions with engineers and weather experts when to power down discrete areas.. Only powered down in high fire areas when actual high wind occurred and after providing notices- about 13,000, not millions, impacted. Stay safe everyone.

ColoradoBear said:

---

Wow, then there is pretty scary shot of San Bruno Mountain in Brisbane (where the power wasn't turned off):





https://patch.com/california/southsanfrancisco/three-alarm-brush-fire-burning-san-bruno-mountain

Any guesses on how that possibly started?

---

The towers are still standing, must have been a PG&E customer

Another Bear said:

---

Hey so it turns out the old, defunct, commie rag, the SF Bay Guardian was right all these years about PG&E. Those guys use to editorialize about PG&E all the time...and this was before San Bruno.

In any case, SF has made an offer to PG&E for infrastructure. I assume other cities and counties will follow.

---

10 cents on a dollar? PG&E will use replacement value, no city could afford that.

Where do you live? Not in the city? How about the wildland urban interface (WUI) where most of our fires take place? And not because of the natural vegetation and fuels, but because we now live on the outskirts of the city much nearer to hills, mountains and forests. Paradise suffered from this and here in Southern California it's more than a reality. Every new community that has pushed out towards the "country" now invites huge fires. Both of my sons who are firefighters down here are both on 48 hour watches because of Santa Ana winds and the destruction that they annually bring. PGE and SCE are one thing, but we have pushed ourselves right out into the forest itself with no intention to stop or even consider the consequences.

https://phys.org/news/2019-09-california-wildfire-wildland-urban-interface-area.html

sp4149 said:

---

Another Bear said:

---

Hey so it turns out the old, defunct, commie rag, the SF Bay Guardian was right all these years about PG&E. Those guys use to editorialize about PG&E all the time...and this was before San Bruno.

In any case, SF has made an offer to PG&E for infrastructure. I assume other cities and counties will follow.

---

10 cents on a dollar? PG&E will use replacement value, no city could afford that.

---

PG&E filled for Chapter 11 at the beginning of the year. If their business continues to trends like this, who knows what the price will be but I'm guessing they might have limited leverage. Then there are the lawsuits..how many?

Total guess, the law suits will required tree maintenance because common sense....but there's no way PG&E ever catches up on maintenance, trees or infrastructure, so they sell stuff off. In any case...

KQED: San Francisco Offers to Buy PG&E Electric Grid in the City for $2.5 Billion

Looks like Oakland is restored as of tonight. All schools open tomorrow.

bearister said:

---

Now they are talking about shutting down the Caldecott Tunnel. Methinks some interesting things were said in PG&E board meetings that will never find their way into the minutes. Watch next for proposed legislation relating to PG&E wildfire liability so that we can avoid an orchestrated crippling of the Bay Area's economy going forward.

Caltrans prepping for 'full closures' of Caldecott Tunnel, Lantos Tunnel | KRON4


https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/caltrans-prepping-for-full-closures-of-caldecott-tunnel-lantos-tunnel/amp/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/caltrans-prepping-for-full-closures-of-caldecott-tunnel-lantos-tunnel/amp/

---

I did wonder when I saw the news of the shutdowns if this might be designed as much to influence the legislature to enact some tort relief for the utility as to actually prevent accidental ignition.

wifeisafurd said:

---

Quite a contrast between PG&E than with SCE. SCE actually had reporters in their bunker where they made decisions with engineers and weather experts when to power down discrete areas.. Only powered down in high fire areas when actual high wind occurred and after providing notices- about 13,000, not millions, impacted. Stay safe everyone.

---

Woke up this morning to SoCal wildfires news headlines. 100,000+ evacuated, but the power is on!

Still can't believe that in this extreme fire danger event that outdoor burning is still permitted. Maybe if SCE customers start the fires then SCE won't be blamed. Wasn't that long ago the SDG&E dodged a bullet by blaming lost hikers for starting a signal fire in order to be rescued (there were also downed power lines, but those damned lost civilians. I'll believe SoCal has their wildfire act together when they just routinely ban outdoor burning in extreme fire danger events. Why even risk it? And a lot less impact that shutting down the grid. Why are easy things so hard to do.

!!! Fortunately only a couple of wildfires burning along my route from La Quinta home to San Diego, no sigalerts yet!!! A lot of the route may be low on fuel from recent fires, aka uncontrolled burns.

Not a good look.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pg-e-executives-wined-and-dined-at-a-sonoma-winery-before-power-shutdown/

Quote:

---

As PG&E prepared to shut down power for millions of California residents earlier this week, some of its employees were wining and dining 60 of its biggest customers at a Sonoma County winery.

---

So, I had an eye appointment on campus this morning at 1130. I Get here and there is a sign on the door saying closed because of no power. Took me a month to get this appointment. Wasted time and money !!! ***** PG&E!!! I have deadlines I could have been working on . Rant over.

going4roses said:

---

So, I had an eye appointment on campus this morning at 1130. I Get here and there is a sign on the door saying closed because of no power. Took me a month to get this appointment. Wasted time and money !!! ***** PG&E!!! I have deadlines I could have been working on . Rant over.

---

That's weird, I thought all of Berkeley got their power back already.

I think maybe someone just didn't want to come in to work.

sycasey said:

---

going4roses said:

---

So, I had an eye appointment on campus this morning at 1130. I Get here and there is a sign on the door saying closed because of no power. Took me a month to get this appointment. Wasted time and money !!! ***** PG&E!!! I have deadlines I could have been working on . Rant over.

---

That's weird, I thought all of Berkeley got their power back already.

I think maybe someone just didn't want to come in to work.

---

LBL is closed today as well...

ahahahahahhahahahhahah funny funny