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- In the fight against devastating bush and wildfires, popular tourist destinations such as the Sequoia National Forest have been closed.
- Additionally, power was shut off as a precautionary measure in parts of California. Around 172,000 households have to live without electricity.
- The fires have already burned an area the size of a fifth of Switzerland. This is a sad new record for California.
The purpose of the power outage is to reduce the risk of wildfire caused by live lines. Strong winds are expected in the region through Wednesday, further increasing the risk of fire in the currently very dry conditions. Power pylons could tip over, branches could rip cables and cause sparks.
Damaged power lines had repeatedly started fires in the past. Additionally, California’s largest power company PG&E urged people to use as little electricity as possible. Extreme weather basically increases demand on the national grid. In very hot weather, California air conditioning systems run at full speed, which can cause bottlenecks.
Popular tourist destinations blocked
Due to the serious danger of wildfires, popular tourist destinations have also been closed to visitors, such as the Sequoia National Forest, known for its redwoods, and the area around Mount Whitney (4,421 meters), the highest mountain in the United States. Outside of Alaska. Over the weekend, more than 200 tourists were taken to safety by helicopter from a camp in the fiery Sierra National Forest because the access road was no longer passable.
In recent weeks, lightning had started hundreds of fires in California. This year, more than 8,000 square kilometers of land had already burned in California, the fire protection agency said. That corresponds to about a fifth of the area of Switzerland. The destruction already exceeds the total fire area of 2018, when many wildfires also ravaged California.
