Western heat wave and wildfires threaten California’s power grid

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LOS ANGELES – A raging fire in southern Oregon has destabilized California’s already overburdened power grid as an intense heat wave and persistent drought threaten much of the region.

Energy officials said the Bootleg Fire, which doubled in size Saturday to nearly 77,000 acres in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, halted three electric lines carrying power from Oregon to California. As a result, California has lost thousands of megawatts of imported power and will likely struggle to maintain operating reserves as temperatures soar to triple digits in parts of the state.

David Garfield clears a fire around his home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Compound fire, caught on Saturday.

The heat wave also caused fires throughout California and much of the West. California’s largest fire, the Beckworth Compound fire located 45 miles north of Lake Tahoe, showed no signs of slowing after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.

National Forest Service officials said the blaze led to evacuations and closures of part of a national forest and posed a serious risk to campgrounds in the area. It is one of many wildfires burning in California.

“Climate change is a major driver” of the state’s recent wildfire woes, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said earlier this year.

Temperatures in parts of California have reached nearly record levels, with Death Valley hitting 130 degrees on Friday, just four degrees below the world record set in 1913.

Death Valley CA reached 130 F today… its highest temperature reading for 2021. This links the value from August 16, 2020 as the highest reading since 1913. Their all-time record is still 134 F, per NOAANCEIclimate pic.twitter.com/yueenHtp7j

– NWS Weather Prediction Center (NWSWPC) July 10, 2021

California officials called for electricity to be preserved on Saturday despite the high temperatures.

“The intense heat waves we’re seeing in California and throughout the West will strain almost any electrical grid,” said Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of the California Autonomous System Operator, which oversees the electrical grid in much of the state. “We are facing a dangerous situation here on the network.”

Residents were also asked this week to cut water consumption by 15 percent as a worsening drought continues to drain water reserves across the state. As of Thursday, 50 of California’s 58 counties were in a drought emergency.

The northern mountainous regions of California have seen several large fires that have destroyed more than a dozen homes. Although there were no confirmed reports of damage to the building, the Bickworth compound fire prompted evacuation orders or warnings for nearly 2,800 people and closed nearly 200 square miles of Plumas National Forest.

On Friday, the hot, billowing air formed a giant smoky cloud of pyromulus that reached thousands of feet and made its own lightning strike, said Lisa Cox, a fire information officer.

The spot fires caused by embers jumped about a mile before the northeast flank — too far for firefighters to be able to fight safely — and the winds channeled the flames into clouds and ravines filled with dry fuel, where they “could actually increase their speed,” Cox said. .

Flames rose as high as 100 feet in places, forcing firefighters to focus on building bulldozer lines to protect homes.

Cox said firefighters usually take advantage of cooler, wetter nights to get ahead on a fire, but the heat and low humidity never subside. More than 1,200 firefighters assisted with planes, but the blaze is expected to continue ahead.

Wildfires also burned in western Idaho and southeast Washington, prompting Washington Governor Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency, banning most outdoor and agricultural burnings through September 30.

“Washington is facing a historic drought and we have already experienced record temperatures,” Inslee said in a statement. “We must be vigilant in our efforts to prevent wildfires, loss of life, and associated land and property destruction.” . “We don’t want to repeat recent years with dangerous wildfires across the state that devastated towns, killed livestock and led to weeks of unhealthy air quality.”

Alicia Victoria Lozano is a California-based reporter for NBC News who focuses on climate change, wildfires and the changing policies of drug laws.

The Associated Press contributed.

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