‘Hazardous’ air in Fresno as winds kick up dust, increase fire danger throughout state

Air quality turned ‘hazardous’ Sunday in Fresno as wind kicked up dust and raised particulate pollution to dangerous levels. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District issued a Health Cautionary Statement, urging people to stay indoors through at least Thursday in from San Joaquin County to Kings and Tulare counties.

The district is warning that exposure to particulate matter can aggravate lung disease, trigger asthma attacks and increase the risk of respiratory infections.

The National Weather Service said the Valley’s bad air quality was due to winds kicking up dust.

Winds created major problems throughout the state Sunday, particularly for Pacific, Gas & Electric Co. officials scrambling to combat increasing wildfire threats.

Hurricane-like winds tore through much of California Sunday, worsening the state’s chaotic wildfire picture, toppling trees and closing two busy interstate highways.

More than 2 million Californians were blacked out by PG&E Corp., the state’s largest utility, in a precautionary move — and other, unplanned outages were reported as well as the wind blasted across the besieged state. With another major windstorm forecast for Tuesday, PG&E Corp. said it could shut power once again to residents in 32 counties, adding to the state’s misery.

Arriving shortly after midnight, the fierce offshore winds brought gusts of 80 mph or more to much of the state, particularly in Northern California. A spot near Lake Tahoe, high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, recorded a gust of 103 mph, or 28 mph higher than a low-level hurricane. PG&E officials said the winds were among the worst they’d seen in years and posed a threat to power lines and other equipment.

Although the winds began tapering off around mid-day Sunday, forecasters cautioned that conditions were hardly tame.

“We’re still in the middle of this thing,” said Johnnie Powell of the National Weather Service’s office in Sacramento. Winds were gusting in the low 50 mph range at Sacramento International Airport, he said.

The weather service’s Ryan Walburn said “red flag” warnings — issued when fire danger becomes acute — probably wouldn’t be lifted until sometime around mid-day Monday.

PG&E officials delayed plans to shut down power in parts of Fresno and Madera counties. Residents should remain ready to go dark at any time as the utility looks to avoid wildfire risks, according to Mayra Tostado, a PG&E spokesperson.

At least twice on Sunday, local authorities reported outages around Fresno County at the same time that PG&E reported no local blackouts. Authorities acknowledged the challenges of keeping up with developing weather patterns.

“Our emergency operations center monitors weather conditions 24/7 to determine the timing of a public safety power shutoff,” Tostado said. “The situation is very fluid and as the weather moves across our service area toward the south, we are able to better determine the timing of shutoffs in Fresno and Madera counties.”

Authorities said about 22,000 customers in mountain communities in Fresno, Madera and Mariposa counties faced potential shutdowns that could last up to 48 hours, including about 4,100 residents in Auberry, Tollhouse and Millerton in Fresno County.

The power also was expected to shut down in parts of Oakhurst, Bass Lake, North Fork, Coarsegold and Ahwahnee where a Red Flag warning remained in effect until at least Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Shutdowns were reported in parts of Mariposa County. According to the Sheriff’s Office in Mariposa, outages were reported in Catheys Valley, Hornitos, Bear Valley, Bagby, Mt. Bullion, parts of Yaqui Gulch Road, Highway 140 from Yaqui Gulch Road to the county line.

Visit www.pgepspsmaps.com/addresslookup to find if a specific address will be affected by the shutoff.

This story has been corrected from an earlier version to say Sunday’s bad air quality in the Valley was the result of wind kicking up dust and not due to wildfire smoke.

The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.

This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 7:54 PM.