A utility that serves the Pacific Northwest is launching a fire preparedness and safety education effort to ready people for the 2019 fire season.
Drew Hanson, spokesperson at Pacific Power, says with wildfires becoming more frequent and extreme, utility services need to have new ways to reduce wildfire risk.
Pacific Power’s mitigation efforts includes vegetation management and increased weather forecasting capabilities. Hanson adds the public safety power shutoff measure, in which power will be shutoff in certain areas experiencing extreme weather, will also be used as a last resort.
“There’s a whole line of things we’re working on on a day-to-day basis to mitigate the risk of wildfires. The public safety power shutoff is a last resort within that plan,” says Hanson.
Pacific Power will hold several open houses, including one in Roseburg on July tenth.
