From the City of Piedmont on Tuesday, October 29 at 3:11 p.m.
ADVISORY: PG&E informs the City that all customers affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoff in Piedmont have been restored. If your power is still out, please contact PG&E at (800) 743-5000.
With regard to the PSPS planned for this evening, We’re informed that the number of Piedmonters affected should be very low. We urge residents to be prepared for any disaster and have a disaster plan.
From the City of Piedmont on Tuesday, October 29 at 12:38 p.m.
ADVISORY: Portions of Piedmont remain out of power due to the Public Safety Power Shutoff. The City is attempting to get additional information from PG&E as to when restoration will take place. A small portion of Piedmont, along Park Boulevard, could be a part of PG&E’s additional Public Safety Power Shutoff, scheduled for tonight, Tuesday 10/29. At this time, the information we’ve received form PG&E indicates that only a handful of customers will be affected, but we continue to monitor the situation and will update as we have more information.
In a phone call with the Exedra on Tuesday afternoon, Assistant City Administrator John Tulloch said that the city hopes people are using the PSPS as an opportunity to prepare for all kinds of disaster. “Make sure you have everything you need to be self-sufficient, whether for a power outage, earthquake, or fire.” In this Red Flag Warning/high fire danger situation, he cautions residents not to be lulled by calm weather conditions. “Even when the wind doesn’t come in, humidity is really low and foliage around is extremely dry, so if a fire gets started it will move very quickly. There is a Burn Ban in effect — very important not to do things that can create sparks, like using barbeques or fire pits.”
In response to a question regarding how the city juggles mutual aid requests from other areas and the city’s own fire safety needs, Piedmont Fire Department Chief Bret Black said in an email that “Prior to providing any mutual aid, we perform a risk assessment to ensure we have a robust work force to meet our needs. This event was no different, in fact we were also able to increase our daily staffing during this time to address the increased wildfire risk for Piedmont.”