January 8, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for San Diego County mountains and valleys today and tomorrow due to high winds and extreme fire danger. The strong winds that have fueled two large wildfires decimating Los Angeles County are forecast to move into San Diego County next.
This is the driest winter period measured from October 1 through January 8 since 1850, according to the National Weather Service, increasing fire danger.
Due to high winds and potential power outages, schools in six local districts will be closed today. The San Diego County Office of Education announced the closures for:
- Julian Union Elementary School District
- Julian Union High School District
- Mountain Empire Unified School District
- Ramona Unified School District
- Spencer Valley School District
- Warner Unified School District
“The safety of students and school staff is of the utmost importance to San Diego County school districts,” officials said in a news release.
In Los Angeles County, devastating fires have collectively destroyed over 1,000 homes and two people have died, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Palisades Fire (Photo,left, by Henri Migala) has burned over 2,900 acres and has destroyed many homes, including beachfront houses along Pacific Coast Highway, since it began yesterday morning in Pacific Palisades. Over 30,000 residences have been evacuated in cities including Santa Monita, Topanga, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades.
Photo, left by Henri Migala: Palisades Fire viewed from Westin Hotel near LAX this morning.
The Eaton Fire in Altadena/Pasadena soared to 2,227 acres overnight. In Sylmar, the Hurst Fire has burned 500 acres. All of these fires remain zero percent contained.
Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state emergency due to the Los Angeles County Fires.
The winds fueling these devastating wildfires are moving into San Diego next, posing extreme fire danger here. Some local firefighters are now in L.A. helping to battle those fires.
SDG&E has begun shutting off power to prevent fires in some rural communities, with more outages anticipated.
Please be prepared for power outages and evacuation if necessary.Avoid any actions that could spark a brush fire, such as weed whacking or parking a vehicle atop try brush.
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Source: SDG&E
January 6, 2025 (San Diego) – Due to extreme fire weather conditions and forecasted Santa Ana winds, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) has notified 64,866 customers that it may have to turn off power to reduce wildfire risk as early as Tuesday. Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) are approved by state regulators as an important safety tool of last resort to mitigate fire risk during dangerous weather conditions.
This week marks the driest start to the rainy season in San Diego County in 174 years. As a result of these dry conditions and expected Santa Ana winds, the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of Orange and San Diego Counties beginning Tuesday evening through late Wednesday night. SDG&E’s meteorology team is closely monitoring weather conditions.
Power shutoffs are possible in the following areas:
- Alpine
- Barona Reservation
- Boulevard
- Campo
- Campo Reservation
- Capitan Grande Reservation
- Chula Vista
- Descanso
- East San Juan Cap
- El Cajon
- Escondido
- Fallbrook
- Jacumba
- Jamul
- Julian
- La Jolla Reservation
- La Mesa
- La Posta Reservation
- Lakeside
- Los Coyotes Reservation
- Manzanita Reservation
- Mesa Grande Reservation
- Pala
- Pala Reservation
- Pauma and Yuima Reservation
- Pauma Valley
- Pechanga Reservation
- Poway
- Ramona
- Ranchita
- Rancho Bernardo
- Rancho Santa Fe
- Rincon Reservation
- San Diego
- San Pasqual Reservation
- Santa Ysabel
- Santa Ysabel Reservation
- Santee
- Sycuan Reservation
- Valley Center
- Viejas Reservation
- Warner Springs
SDG&E has activated its Emergency Operations Center and staffed it with key personnel to monitor weather conditions throughout the duration of the event, especially the wind speeds in the high fire risk areas of the county.
If SDG&E implements a PSPS for public safety, it will open Community Resource Centers to support impacted customers.
Given the potential for extended power outages, SDG&E encourages customers to be prepared. Outage preparedness tips can be found at sdge.com/outage-center; safety guidelines for generator use can be found at sdge.com/generator.
Never approach a downed line; report it by calling 911 or SGD&E’s call center at 800-411-7343.
Real-time information about unplanned power outages can be found at www.sdge.com/outage.
Updates about this PSPS can be found at sdge.com/Ready and SDGEToday.com or by following SDG&E’s X channel, @SDGE.