PG&E Shutting off Power to Northern California
Due to the current weather conditions in California, 800,000 people have their power shut off in an effort to reduce the chance of a wildfire. More than 460 schools have shut down, putting nearly a quarter million kids out of school, to try and protect the community from the raging fires tearing up California. Speaking with Sandra Hunt, a resident of California and an employee at the DA’s for numerous years, she admitted that “if my power was shut off I think I would be more prone to go outside a start a fire to cook my food.” Not only is the power shut-off affecting residents, but many businesses are also losing a large sum of money due to perishables spoiling. As of now, PG&E has refused to reimburse business owners and local companies that lose product due to the power outage.
I talked to two vendors from restraints on main street one stated that they lost approximately 1,000 dollars in product, another one told me they lost approximately 3,000 dollars in product
— Cleve Morris, the Placerville City Planner
In 2018 alone, roughly 1,823,153 acres of land were burned in California, with PG&E responsible for 85 deaths and 19,000 houses damaged. PG&E cut power to help lower the risk of the fire. After one day of the power outages, Cleve Morris, the Placerville City Planner, said “I talked to two vendors from restraints on main street one stated that they lost approximately 1,000 dollars in product, another one told me they lost approximately 3,000 dollars in product.”
Although, the recent events have affected many people in devastating ways, amazing stories have come through the dark, such as a touching tribute to a fallen hero. On October 23, 2019, Brian Ishmael, deputy sheriff, was shot and killed while on call. After the shooting, the El Dorado county was in shock, Sheriff John D’Agostini described that the victim “worked in this community and lived in this community. He was personable, easy to talk to, kind and always positive. He never had a bad day. He was a loving father and husband.”
During the power outage the community went down to the town square, using the last of their reserved energy to honor the fallen deputy sheriff. Shown time and time again, through many toils and snares, in the face of death, fear, and hate, we are all human.
