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Californians struggle after latest blackout hits 1.5 million
The Associated Press ^ | October 30, 2019 | JANIE HAR and JOCELYN GECKER

Posted on 10/30/2019 7:13:37 AM PDT by IndispensableDestiny

That fire was caused when a dry branch from a eucalyptus tree was flung 30 feet (9 meters) by high winds into a city Department of Water and Power line, which short-circuited and sparked, the utility and Fire Department announced Tuesday.

The power line had been operating safely and the DWP had cut away brush and trees from around the line, officials said.

Mayor Eric Garcetti called it an “act of God.”

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blackouts; cartelfornia; fire
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To: camle

Mostly. You left out the part where the state also forced PG&E to spend massive amounts on expensive Green energy subsidies and generation, reducing the money available for ROW maintenance. The detail behind your “takes huge amounts of resources from them”, on top of the direct taxes.


41 posted on 10/30/2019 7:49:23 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Sacajaweau

I don’t mean you, lol.

Apologies, my sarcasm in that post was directed at the Democrat politicians of the state, who don’t seem to be able to figure out the obvious, but I think I worded that poorly.


42 posted on 10/30/2019 7:49:52 AM PDT by chris37 (Where's Hunter?)
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To: A_Former_Democrat

Sounds like California has gone Sodom & Gomorrah and is getting it’s due wage.

Act of God indeed!


43 posted on 10/30/2019 7:50:11 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Like Enoch, Noah, & Lot, the True Church will soon be removed & then destruction comes forth.)
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To: chris37

I work for the Kentucky equivalent of PG&E. We take this stuff pretty seriously. However, due to the climate here, the risk of fire is beyond remote. But still, we clear. In fact, they sprayed foliage killer on my hill (without my permission( where the line goes up from the road to my property on the hill.

But here, it’s more about branches causing outages, rather than fires.

If you supply electricity in an environment where the sort of stuff happening in california is a serious risk, you either change the way you do it - i.e. underground - or you accept the risk - i.e. what we do every day when we get in our cars.


44 posted on 10/30/2019 7:51:08 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: cgbg

That’s what most people forget.
They love cheap & reliable power, but hate overhead lines.

Underground utilities are about three times the cost of overhead. And CA is an earthquake hotbed. Imagine that headache with a 6.0+ hitting and cutting lines/duct-banks.


45 posted on 10/30/2019 7:53:33 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Like Enoch, Noah, & Lot, the True Church will soon be removed & then destruction comes forth.)
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To: sickoflibs

HAHAHA! I remember that scene!


46 posted on 10/30/2019 7:53:44 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: Sacajaweau

Mostly forestry management so fires don’t rage out of control. We can’t stop fires from starting, but if the environmentalists didn’t have their way and we could clear forest floors and thin them out, then fires would not burn out of control and we could stop them more readily.

These fires did not burn out of control in the 1950s and 1960s when we exercised strict forest management. This is a man-made problem caused by environmentalist wackos.


47 posted on 10/30/2019 7:58:23 AM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (What profits a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?)
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To: Spktyr

Its pretty funny though that the only way to get power effectively to homes is still via wires strung on wood poles.

The next billionaire can eaisly be the person that figures out a better way.


48 posted on 10/30/2019 7:58:40 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: cuban leaf

I wonder why they haven’t gone underground there.

Also most of the wildfires around here get started by lighting strikes, so I can only assume that occurs there as well.


49 posted on 10/30/2019 7:59:26 AM PDT by chris37 (Where's Hunter?)
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To: chris37

I wonder why they haven’t gone underground there.


Short answer: It’s really expensive. It can be worth it in a densely populated area where you have a few dozen feet of underground wire per household. But when you are burying tens or hundreds of miles of cable for a relatively small number of customers the cost is prohibitive.


50 posted on 10/30/2019 8:01:38 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: cuban leaf

So it would seem like the only answer is to accept the risk, and then engage in risk mitigation as well as you possibly can.

I would say that in the case of California, the black outs are not the answer. Doesn’t seem to be helping.


51 posted on 10/30/2019 8:04:36 AM PDT by chris37 (Where's Hunter?)
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To: VanDeKoik
The next billionaire can easily be the person that figures out a better way.

They better figure out how to keep the corrupt politicians from interfering--otherwise they will just be a broke geek.
52 posted on 10/30/2019 8:06:37 AM PDT by cgbg (Vote Trump or you will _be_ Trump)
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To: cuban leaf

https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2019/10/30/jerry-brown-blames-trump-republicans-for-california-fires-the-blood-is-on-your-soul/

Here we have Jerry Brown blaming Trump and the Repubics for the fires because Climate Change.

/facepalm


53 posted on 10/30/2019 8:06:44 AM PDT by chris37 (Where's Hunter?)
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To: chris37

I agree.

I used to live in Vallejo as a kid and until recently would visit family in the LA area. Seems to me that control of undergrowth is the real answer there. It also seems like it would be worthwhile.

And as someone else pointed out, we could pay people to clear it out rather than pay them snap/welfare/etc. to sit on their butts.


54 posted on 10/30/2019 8:07:50 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: chris37

They truly think the voters are idiots. Dead serious.


55 posted on 10/30/2019 8:08:56 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: IndispensableDestiny
Here in Appalachia the old timers scoff at the new comers when they build their homes next to that little babbling brook.. Because of the hills and mountains sooner or later that little stream becomes a raging torrent and all is lost..

I think God made most of California to burn every couple of years.. I've read somewhere that some of the trees in that area don't drop their seed until the fires come..
If you build your house in the furnace don't be surprised if it gets burnt...

56 posted on 10/30/2019 8:09:09 AM PDT by unread (Joe McCarthy was right.......)
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To: Sacajaweau

Bury the electric lines in areas like they have been found to be a problem with fallen lines causing a fire, which is usually in an unpopulated section. In a populated section the overhead lines, if they fall, are usually going to land on pavement or in someone’s yard.


57 posted on 10/30/2019 8:11:21 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: chris37

Elect a bunch of Democrats, burn to death in the dark.
________________________________________________________

At this point, electing Republicans would be a futile and stupid gesture as well. The situation is beyond hopeless. The only way out is to let Kalifornyuns hit absolute rock bottom, feel the massive amounts of pain, then get up, dust off, shake it off, and only then... elect Republicans. Lessons must be thoroughly felt, learned and understood before any meaningful change can occur in any liberal utopia.


58 posted on 10/30/2019 8:13:51 AM PDT by Home-of-the-lazy-dog ("Leftists will stand before you and cut off their own head just to prove that they'll do it!")
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To: Jane Long

“Elections have consequences.”

Those in California that elected the Dims are only blaming the “greedy” utility companies. And, unfortunately, the Dims are the majority.


59 posted on 10/30/2019 8:13:52 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: Daffynition

STOP POSTING THE OVERSIZE PICTURES. YOU RUIN THE THREAD FOR IPAD USERS!


60 posted on 10/30/2019 8:17:27 AM PDT by ThePatriotsFlag (Congress is not made up of leaders however they are representatives of their voters.)
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