The northern California wildfires inflicted $3 billion worth of damages, destroyed or damaged 14,000 homes, and killed 42 people, according to the Los Angeles Times. As the fires spread throughout the northern part of the state, they also damaged Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E's) electric and gas facilities. In turn, PG&E de-energized the affected power lines, activated multiple emergency operations centers and called upon its linemen to work alongside first responders.
To facilitate its response to the fires, PG&E established base camps in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake counties. Overall, PG&E deployed 4,300 workers, including mutual aid crews and PG&E employees, who worked around the clock to get the lights back on for their customers. Since the fires began on Oct. 8, PG&E restored power to all of the 359,000 affected electric customers who could safely receive electricity. The utility is now in the process of helping the communities to rebuild.