Wildfires grow in southern California while PG&E works to restore power up north


A wildfire in the Los Angeles area spread rapidly Thursday night into Friday amid strong winds and dry weather, leaving an estimated 23,000 homes under evacuation orders, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The fire grew from 60 acres Thursday evening to 4,700 acres Friday morning, and is 0 percent contained. Many schools and major freeways are closed, and at least 25 buildings have been destroyed. At least one person died due to cardiac arrest, per LAFD.
Meanwhile, seven other fires are blazing across California, reports CBS News.
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But winds are calming in the northern part of the state, prompting Pacific Gas & Electric to begin inspection and power restoration after a planned outage for an unprecedented number of customers in northern California began Wednesday in an attempt to avoid fallen power lines contributing to wildfires.
Southern California Edison also had planned power outages for roughly 20,000 people, and warned that thousands more could lose power as southern winds grow, reports CBS News.
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Taylor Watson is audience engagement editor for TheWeek.com and a former editorial assistant. She graduated from Syracuse University, with a major in magazine journalism and minors in food studies and nutrition. Taylor has previously written for Runner's World, Vice, and more.
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