The Bay Area power outages impacts Armijo indirectly

Leila Harper, Beyond the Gates Editor|October 14, 2019

The power company chose to use blackouts to prevent potential wildfires in a season of high winds.

During early October, residents in California’s Bay Area struggled through power outages. Starting on Monday, October 7, and stretching the entire workweek, PG&E intentionally shutting off power to try to combat the increasing likelihood of a wildfire. Many cities—and, in turn, residents—suffered from their lights, hot water, ovens, fridges/freezers, heat/air, and, yes, wi-fi being shut off.

Many neighborhoods in the Fairfield and Suisun areas were affected by the power outages. Although Armijo was not one of the schools that was hit, many of the students’ and staff members’ homes were. Even though the school wasn’t struck by the loss of wi-fi (and lights), at home, students and teachers alike might have been hindered in their ability to do their respective duties. That, and getting ready in the morning and taking care of meals.

As was the case for Ms. Jenny Uhalde, history teacher (F-2). “It was mostly just inconvenient. [The] power went out about midnight at my house, so it made getting up early to go to work a little bit of a challenge with no hot water or lights,” she said. “I realized I didn’t own as many flashlights as I should.” For her, planning ahead of the outages was an important part in combating the more drastic possibilities.

Despite PG&E’s website’s best efforts to keep the public informed of the approaching outages before, for some households, a week’s worth of groceries lost is a bigger deal than others. For now, it is most critical to know how PG&E is trying to minimize the probability of another one of these power outages while protecting against wildfire risks. It is also important for the community to come together to help those who have been negatively impacted by such instances.

Sources