SCE's Public Safety Power Outages Considered In Trabuco Canyon

TRABUCO CANYON, CA —Nearly 7,300 Southern California Edison customers may be without power during the upcoming Santa Ana wind event, Thursday and Friday, the utility cautioned. Pro-active power shutoffs are SCE's response to head off fire risk, in advance of potential downed power lines that are known to have sparked wildfires in the past.

When weather conditions exist that carry potential for elevated fire risk, Public Safety Power Shutoffs come into consideration, they said. Strong, dry winds are set to hit the area Thursday and Friday, creating a fire risk. SCE has identified areas in and around Rancho Santa Margarita, the unincorporated areas around San Juan Capistrano, and Trabuco Canyon as potentials for the proactive power shutoffs.

With impending, potentially dangerous weather conditions in fire-prone areas, the power company is prepared to call a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event for those cities.

"If fire ignition occurs, conditions may be favorable for extreme fire behavior, which would threaten life and property," according to the statement.

The Santa Anas result from high pressure over Nevada, said NWS meteorologist Rich Thompson, while the low humidity is caused by cold dry air and a drying-out effect that occurs when winds blow across mountain slopes.

"During these events, we will proactively turn off power in high fire risk areas to reduce the threat of wildfires," a spokesperson for SCE said. "Turning off our customers' power is not something we take lightly, but PSPS events are one of the ways we can better ensure the safety of the public, our customers, and our employees."

In the unincorporated areas of Orange County, Orange County ( approximately 7,250 customers)

• Rancho Santa Margarita, including parts of Trabuco Canyon

• Orange

• Unincorporated area including North Tustin