Planned PG&E power outage may have prevented wildfire in Sierra Foothills

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- PG&E is revealing details about a power shutoff in June. The utility company says its equipment in Chico and Oroville suffered wind damage during the Red Flag Warning weekend.

PG&E crews discovered five instances of damage while working to restore power. They included a tree that fell on a storage shed in Oroville and four instances where branches fell on PG&E conductors or lines in Chico. In a statement to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno said, That means the shut off could have prevented a wildfire sparked by the damaged equipment.

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PG&E cut the power to the area the weekend of June 8, as a wildfire precaution. The details about the shut off were released in an incident report submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission.

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Around 22,000 customers in the north Bay Area and in the Sierra foothills, including Butte County, were left without power. No damage was found in the North Bay. Repairs were made in Butte County and customers got their power back in 24 hours.

PG&E has warned there could be more planned outages throughout their service area throughout the summer.