California utility to cut power to 27,000 customers to reduce wildfire risk

Utility PG&E Corp planned to proactively shut off power on Saturday to 27,000 customers in Northern California due to an increased risk of wildfires, officials said. The shut down would begin at 9 p.m. local time in and around the Sierra Foothills, an area spanning parts of Butte, Yuba, Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties northeast of San Francisco and near the border with Nevada, the utility said on Twitter. The area includes portions of Paradise, the town that was destroyed by November's deadly wildfire known as the Camp Fire, which killed more than 80 people.