Arizona crews to help restore power to Camp Fire survivors in California
Nov 21, 2018, 9:51 AM | Updated: 11:40 am
Power transmission lines crest a hilltop above Camp Creek Road, the point of origin of the Camp Fire, in Pulga, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
(AP Photo/Noah Berger)
PHOENIX — More than a dozen employees with an Arizona public utility will head to Northern California this weekend to help restore power to the residents affected by the state’s deadliest wildfire.
Arizona Public Service, otherwise known as APS, will send 21 employees to help officials with the San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company restore power in the area of Paradise, California.
A group of more than 20 APS employees will depart Phoenix this Sat., Nov. 21, to head to Paradise, CA, to assist in power restoration following the devastating fires in the area. A second wave of transmission crews will depart Dec. 1. Watch this channel for updates. #CampFire pic.twitter.com/ix7oD9bV52
— APS (@apsFYI) November 21, 2018
The APS employees will leave Phoenix on Saturday. A second round of crews are scheduled to leave on Nov. 30.
Spokeswoman Anne DeGraw said, in total, more than 35 employees will eventually be stationed in Northern California.
“It requires a whole team of people to get these folks up and running,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “We know we can go out there and do a lot of good.”
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DeGraw said crews will be staying in primitive conditions while they work to restore power, but that the “only thing on their mind is helping the people of Paradise get their lives back to normal.”
The so-called Camp Fire has killed at least 81 people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes since it first sparked on Nov. 8.
It has burned an area about the size of Chicago — nearly 238 square miles — and is about 80 percent contained.
As of this morning, the #CampFire is active on 153,336 acres and is 80 percent contained. More than 370 USDA Forest Service employees are helping fight this #wildfire. pic.twitter.com/GVQ2Zb8zFM
— U.S. Forest Service (@forestservice) November 21, 2018
Officials said nearly 870 people were still unaccounted for.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Kinnerup and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
