I guess it’s a location kind of thing. Other than a few years ago (the year that Gatlinburg burned), we haven’t had the extremely dry conditions to warrant shutting off power. Maybe in small localized areas, but I’m on the transmission side so that wouldn’t be something that I’d be privy to (unless it were my house being shut off).
Power still on here in SW OR. Of course many of the west coast fires this year were arson, not cause by power poles or lines down.
California Utility May Cut Power to 1 Million People
Electricity cut off in fire area in Colorado now while firefighters mop up after East Troublesome fire. Hundreds of poles down. Utility crews working, water crews also working to winterize homes that didn’t burn before they freeze tonight. Homeowners not allowed in area yet, too dangerous.
You can’t bury lines in solid rock, which exists in some areas of the ‘Rocky’ Mountains. This particular fire could not be fought much due to high winds (stops aircraft drops, and endangers ffs on the ground), many dead beetle-kill trees and steep mountains. Those beetle-kill trees have been logged for over a decade but there are just too many. FFs have been killed by silent falling “snags” as they call them.