The Eugene Water & Electric Board plans to keep wildfire safety settings on for power lines in the city’s south and southwestern hills in an effort to reduce the chance that a downed line sparks a fire.
An EWEB spokesperson said that means wires will automatically de-energize if touched by an item such as a tree branch, and will stay off until inspected.
"The end result of that is during this summer of increased fire danger here in the late summer, power outages in south and southwest Eugene may be more frequent and they may be longer because we will inspect the lines before re-energizing," said Aaron Orlowski.
The length of outages will vary based on how busy the crews that inspect lines are.
“If there are outages all across town because the winds are extremely high, then it’ll take longer to restore the outages,” said Orlowski. “If it’s just an odd incident, something that’s a one-off, we should be able to get your power on in a couple of hours or so.”
Outages that occur at night will also take longer, as crews will only conduct inspections during daylight hours.
Orlowski said people who live in these areas should be prepared to be without power on occasion.
“Beforehand, always make sure your devices are charged and you’re ready to be without power for a little bit longer,” he said. “During the summer, make sure you have enough non-perishable food on hand if the outage is an extended one. Most of the time with these kinds of outages, you can just ride it out.”
And people should not try to trim a tree that they see nearing a power line themselves in order to avoid a shut-off.
“If you’re seeing some trees on your property that look like they need a trim, maybe it’s been a couple of years and they grew really fast, reach out to our team to get that scheduled,” he said. “You can also hire a certified arborist to do that, they know the standards and the safety methods. ”
Orlowski said wildfire safety settings will be shut off once fire season is declared over. That might not happen until late-September or early October, depending on what state fire officials decide.
