California residents return after fire evacuations

(26 Oct 2019) Authorities ordered at least 50,000 residents to evacuate towns near a massive Northern California wildfire Saturday, and the state's largest utility announced power shut-offs for an estimated 2.35 million people due to forecasts of severe winds and extreme fire danger. Two previous electricity shut-offs in recent weeks were carried out amid concern that gusty winds could disrupt or knock down power lines and spark devastating wildfires. Some gusts this weekend might reach 75 mph (120 kph) or higher as part of a "historic" wind event, the National Weather Service warned. Some Californian residents returned to their homes  on Saturday after the fire evacuations Pacific Gas & Electric said a new wave of blackouts would be implemented in stages through Saturday afternoon and evening, affecting about 940,000 homes and businesses in 36 counties for 48 hours or longer. The city of San Francisco was not in line for a blackout; shut-offs were ordered for most of the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area, the wine country to the north and the Sierra foothills. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...