The growing Thompson Fire in Butte County prompted PG&E to temporarily shut off power to some customers, including Lassen County.
The Lassen Municipal Utility District said at one point, more than 10,000 customers were without power among Susanville, Eagle Lake, Janesville, Lake Forest, Leavitt Lake, Standish-Litchfield, and Westwood.
Power was restored to all customers by 12:30 p.m. "The Caribou transmission feed has been stabilized and LMUD's system is back online. If you are still without power, please call us at 530-257-4174."
Late Wednesday morning, LMUD reported that PG&E told them that the line "appears to be intact without major damage."
Earlier, LMUD posted online:
"Due to extreme weather conditions, and active fires, PG&E has de-energized the transmission line that feeds the LMUD system. This event was not related to PG&E's planned Public Safety Power Shutoffs. This was a sudden, and unexpected emergency situation. We are waiting on more information from PG&E to formulate a plan for restoration as soon as it is safe to do so. Unfortunately, with this type of sudden loss of power, Honey Lake Power was also taken offline. Connecting to Honey Lake Power for backup power, is a lengthy and complicated process. If connection to HLP becomes an option, we will notify the public as soon as possible. Please be prepared for an extended outage lasting through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning (July 3)."
LMUD adds, "under normal circumstances, PG&E will notify LMUD that they are going to de-energize the transmission line. This allows us to work with PG&E and gives HLP and LMUD enough time to coordinate the islanding process. However, during emergencies, like this one caused by the Thompson Fire, there isn’t an opportunity for PG&E to notify us. This is what has caused our current situation."
Click here to view the LMUD outage map.
Power outages continue across the Susanville area
— Lassen NF (@LassenNF) July 3, 2024
Our Supervisor’s Office & Eagle Lake office will remain closed throughout the week until power is restored
Hat Creek office and Almanor office currently have power and are open for business
All Offices closed for 4th of July pic.twitter.com/dauKzljhS2
Please see press release from our partners @CAStateParks regarding the cancellation of the 4th of July fireworks show in the Oroville area. pic.twitter.com/urRxEIiTBh
— CAL FIRE/Butte County Fire Department (@CALFIRE_ButteCo) July 3, 2024
Meanwhile, the Thompson Fire in Butte County has forced at least 13,000 people to evacuate.
The Thompson fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, in and around the city of Oroville, in Butte County. It sent up a huge plume of smoke and grew to nearly 4.7 square miles (12.1 square kilometers) by Wednesday morning. It was zero percent contained.
A state of emergency was declared Tuesday night by the city of about 20,000 people along the Feather River at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. Evacuation centers were set up at a church and the county fairgrounds.
The fire's cause is being investigated. Red flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions, including gusty northerly winds and low humidity levels, were in effect when it erupted.
The warnings were expected to remain in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday, said Garret Sjolund, the Butte County unit chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
