Around 2,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers are without power in Solano County as the utility company implements its Public Safety Power Shutoffs. Winds blasting through Northern California threaten to knock down power lines that have the potential to spark,

A California utility shut off power in 19 counties in the northern and central part of the state as a major “diablo wind” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — spiked the risk of power lines sparking a wildfire.

As California braced for critical fire conditions starting Thursday afternoon, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials said a quick-moving storm that produced rain in some locations helped planners reduce the number of counties and customers facing public safety power shutoffs through the weekend to roughly 20,