 Good morning everyone Deanna Crop Supply with Cal OES just kind of wanted to let you know some of the speakers So we'll be here today and just if you have any questions for some of them We'll be taking questions at the end So we'll have director Mark Gillard duchy from the governor's office of emergency services Sarah would Rojawski from the National Weather Service Chris Anthony from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Elliott Menzier from the California independent system operator Tomas Aragon California Department of Public Health Director and Natalie Balaguay from the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency Armando Quintero from California State Parks And then we also have on hand Alice Reynolds with the California Public Utilities Commission Siva Gunda with the California Energy Commission and then David Hornug from Kalosha heat and agricultural program director I'll hand it over to National Weather Service now to give an update on heat. Thank you Good morning. Thank you. My name is Sarah Rogowski and I'm with the National Weather Service here to talk about heat wave We have a significant heat wave event occurring across most of the state And we have our hottest temperatures yet to come early to midweek We are looking for record-to-near record daily high temperatures as well as the overnight low temperatures are very warm And that's going to be especially across the Central Valley and Southern California inland region Also looking at some of the coastal areas seeing hot temperatures as well For the southern coast Saturday and month through Monday then mainly Monday for the central coast where people are not used to seeing those hot temperatures Otherwise we're looking at temperatures in the 80s and 90s along the coast and 100 to 115 for a lot of our inland and Central parts of California and that's gonna be through Wednesday These temperatures are warm. They are looking at temperatures 10 to 25 degrees above normal for this time of year and With those warm temperatures continuing at night. We're not getting that overnight relief So the time you'd normally see the cooler temperatures and get a break from the heat We're not getting it with those temperatures remaining in the 70s and 80s and even some 90s across Southern California for the foothills All of that is combining to bring areas of high to very high heat risk And when we get that very high heat risk day after day It's affecting the entire population as we continue through the event There is some relief in sight with temperatures looking at cooler temperatures reaching the northern parts of the state by Thursday Moving further south through Thursday and Friday late Thursday and Friday and looking at cooler weekend However, temperatures are remaining above normal and that's expected to continue through the middle parts of the month With the heat we also have fire weather concerns while we don't have widespread wind We still have hot and dry conditions and that's leading to even normal winds that are in gusty and some of the mountains and foothill regions Causing some additional fire weather concerns So we do have a red flag warning across parts of the nemotoc plateau per today and possibly on Sunday as well Looking further south a lot of people can try to escape to the beaches to get some relief finding the cooler temperatures However, there is a tropical storm off Western Baja It's not expected to come north But what it is going to do is cause some increased rip current threat and some higher surf across the Southern California beaches So we have extra hazards further south Thank you very much for your time and hand it over to Director Giller duty. Thank you Thanks, sir. Good morning Mark Miller with the with Cal OES I'll start off today with just touching on a few points related to the fire thread and and the response that we're doing up in Siskiw County at the mill and mountain fires first of all, we're extremely appreciative of all the fire and law enforcement mutual aid responders and The conditions they're working in are pretty extreme So we thank them for all of their efforts and appreciate them yesterday the governor did proclaim the state of emergency for Siskiw County in support of the response and recovery that that is Say emergency will help with resources and and being able to provide all the necessary actions to make sure the state is in full response mode and in support of the folks up in Siskiw County and We know that the the fire in in in the town of weed has caused civilian injuries and power outages has impacted critical infrastructure destroyed homes and and of course have had Results of the thousands of folks evacuated they remain evacuated today We're getting a clearer picture this morning and the situation both there in weed as well as in Lake Shastina and on the mountain fire and Shortly chief Anthony from Cal fire will provide a more significant update on the fire firefighting operations there In addition related to that fire the governor was able to secure a fire Management assistance grant from FEMA yesterday afternoon. That's that's a grant that will help to Provide valuable about vital resources to help suppress the fire So we appreciate FEMA's rapid turnaround on that grant request and and the governor moving rapidly on that We have also pre-positioned a humanitarian support supplies including cots and comfort kits and waters and meals Up into the area to support wildfire survivors and and Siskiw County as necessary and Given the evolving extreme heat and the fire weather. We've also Pre-positioned fire strike teams actually across 18 counties now throughout the state to rapidly respond to fires as necessary The Sorry about that on the weather Cal OES is continued to monitoring then coordinate the significant efforts to ensure Californians have Information and resources they need During the extreme heat event that will continue on now as we heard through Tuesday or possibly Wednesday The folks behind me will give you more specific Information on what each agency is doing in response obviously behind me the state operations center is fully activated and 24-7 to be able to not only respond to the heat event but And support of all the counties, but also provide that information and respond to these fires that are occurring We know that this heat will also be a period of time where we could in the next window of several days Be getting a number of new fire starts and so we want to be as prepared as we possibly can air go the preposition Assets that we've put in place in support of not just local government, but initial attack and support of Cal fire operations Our teams are also working closely with local state and federal agencies including utilities and energy providers and private sector non-governmental groups to ensure that all needs are met and Those needs include areas where Californians can beat the heat for example cooling centers We are closely tracking the opening of cooling centers in each of the counties and you can actually go to the Cal OES dot ca.gov website and Look at all the existing cooling centers that are in place throughout the state And we we we do encourage you to also check with your local authorities to make sure that those cooling centers are open the timing So that you don't you know you have the specifics on when they're open and closed, etc They're all at the local level and keep in mind that there is official specific cooling centers, but also things like shopping malls and shopping centers and Supermarkets and things if you need to get out of the heat, you know can serve as a area of refuge and cooling Center so we recommend that you are proactive on that We've also engaged with our access and functional needs coordinators from throughout all 58 counties in the state To work closely with the Department of Social Services to stand up emergency shelters and wraparound services for individuals Who have access and functional needs or have some special? requirements for assistance to be able to address the heat in the event that they're having If there's a power outage, we have people who have air conditioning problems or Individuals that may need to get the cooling centers Lastly, we have emergency power capabilities on standby to speak to that in the event that there is power outages We have strategically placed emergency power Capabilities throughout the state and we also have our public safety Communications team on standby to support any immediate repairs over the weekend to radio or cellular systems We're been in contact with our cellular providers our internet providers to make sure that they have reliability in their systems So as we enter into the holiday weekend, please plan ahead stay cool Dr. Otto Gron is here from CDPH. We'll get into the specifics regarding some of the critical health hazards And we'll learn more about what we're doing with the parks in some of the other areas as Californians Want to get out and recreate over the weekend? I will close in saying that you know We this heat period is a time when a fires can start very easily And we want people to be as safe as we possibly can be while we're out there We understand that sitting in your home when it's super hot may be not the best And you want to get out to the to the hills or to the coast But it's important just to be very very vigilant and be safe in doing so so with that I'm going to turn it over to Chief Chris Anthony from Cal Fire is going to give us a fire update. Thank you Thank you Good morning. Thank you so much director Gillard douchey and thank you so much for having us here today So first I'd like to thank all of you for being here on this holiday weekend My name is Chris Anthony. I work as the chief deputy director for Cal Fire So I'd like to really express my appreciation for the incredible level of coordination that is occurring across the state as We come into this very extreme A heat event So Cal Fire in addition to Cal OES our local and federal fire agencies Have been actively preparing for this heat wave by Pre-positioning fire engines and increasing our staffing levels across the entire state This is really to ensure that we have the resources not only for initial attack incidents But also to be able to staff major fires that are currently occurring that I'll I'll get into in a minute So as you're aware over the last several days, we've we've definitely seen a steady increase In the number and the size of wildfires burning throughout california And I'd like to note that no single fire agency By themselves can mitigate these incidents and that's why we realize so heavily on our tribal Our local our state and our federal fire service partners to be able to address the issues that are before us Um currently we have four thousand three hundred and forty six firefighters assigned to numerous fires burning burning throughout california In southern california firefighters are making excellent progress on the border 32 fire in san diego Which is currently four thousand four hundred and thirty eight acres and 65 contained The route fire in los angeles county is at five thousand two hundred and eight acres and 71 contained and there was very little fire activity or fire growth on on those fires overnight The good news is is we anticipate that as a result of Getting you know turning the corner on those fires that There will be a significant release of resources over the weekend from those two fires Which will put more firefighters back in the system For any new fires that that may arise Yesterday we had two fires of significance in northern california in suscue county The mill fire which started in weed quickly spread spread north Due to strong winds towards the community of lake schestina The mill fire is currently three thousand nine hundred and 21 acres And i am happy to report that as of this morning. It's at least 20 contained which is absolutely phenomenal news and And considering the work that's been done overnight on that fire Um preliminary estimates from our incident commanders on the ground And from sensory aircraft overhead is that we're estimating so far that we can confirm 50 structures have been damaged or destroyed But today we'll have damage inspection teams that will start going in to those areas to really be able to confirm those numbers As well as the type of structures that have been damaged or destroyed Due to the mill fire. We do expect that number to rise as a result of those In the field evaluations Approximately three hours after the mill fire ignited a second fire started in suscue county This fire was the mountain fire. It's approximately three thousand three hundred and ninety five acres and only five percent contained And it's burning in very rugged terrain Due to the complexity of both of these fires as well as the proximity To each one of those cal fire activated a cal fire incident management team Which will assume command of both of those fires this morning At 11 a.m. So and I'd like to close just by saying, um, you know, we've just started labor day weekend And the hottest and driest days Are still ahead of us and the extreme heat Coupled with this persistent drought that we're in as well as the bone dry vegetation Really make for the perfect ingredients for rapid fire spread Cal fire along with all of its partner agencies. Um, we're still successful at Meeting our goal of keeping 95 of all fires at 10 acres or less Um, but it's important to understand that 95 of all fires start as a result of human caused activity So that's why we're reminding everyone to be extremely fire safe this weekend It only takes a spark to ignite a major fire So now I would like to turn it over to my colleague the president and ceo of the california iso Elliott manzer. Thank you Good morning, everybody. It's nice to see you. I'd like to echo the appreciation for the tremendous coordination In collaboration across the state and and the active participation in in california's electricity consumers in helping us work through What have been already significantly stressed days on the grid just the last three days on thursday evening We had the highest demand for power that we've seen since since september of 2017 And those last few days are likely to be a dress rehearsal for what's going to be a much more significantly stressed set of conditions here As we get into the heart of the weekend in particular This event and the demand for electricity continues to escalate Moving into monday tuesday and wednesday and potentially even beyond so those efforts that we've seen across the board by consumers to flex their demand To really take those necessary steps particularly during the hours of four to nine p.m As we start to see the most stress grid conditions following sunset that is a very critical period And so setting those thermostats to 78 degrees or higher Flexing the use of major appliances out of those time periods into other times of the day And keeping unnecessary lights on makes a real difference And we really appreciate the efforts of consumers so far and we're going to be asking for more and it's going to be a sustained effort We know it takes focus it takes effort and thank you in advance for really setting up for what's going to be a challenging Weekend i will also like to express real appreciation to all my colleagues across the state Who've been taking a number of important steps to make sure that we have a whole suite of tools available to us As we get into the heart of the weekend I thank you to governor Newsome who responded to our request for an emergency proclamation That will also make some additional capability available And and finally I would just mention that we will be keeping a close eye On these fire conditions. They do have the potential to impact the bulk electrical system And we're going to be doing everything we can to make sure that the generation fleet in california is as strong as possible So very very intense period lots of focus, but really quite confident that with this level of communication coordination We can make it through these challenging conditions together and thanks again with that I'm going to turn the microphone over to tomas argon The director of the california department of public health. Thank you very much Thank you Good morning everyone. I hope everyone's doing okay this morning I'm going to start off just with a really brief story in 2017 I was leaving the meeting in san francisco general hospital at about 4 p.m It was labor day weekend. We were projected we were forecast to have temperatures in the 90s I walked out got to my car. I've walked into this Wall of heat turned on my car and the temperature was 106 So I learned to have a tremendous amount deep respect of what heat waves can do Especially in parts of california that are not acclimated Where the buildings and the bodies are not prepared and acclimated for the level of heat wave that you may be experiencing in the next few days Key messages that we need to get out to everybody is Stay cool Stay hydrated stay connected and stay informed It's important to realize that it's not just temperature. It's also the radiation from the sun It's it's the humidity humidity depending on where you are and it's also wind So all of this comes together to have some unpredictability An important thing about about heat waves is that the ideal situation is that you get acclimated to the heat Which takes a few weeks. We don't have a few weeks to get acclimated So no one is really acclimated right now Okay, unless you happen to be and you happen to be lucky enough to be in a place or time of day Where it's a temperature that you're accustomed to so I think people really really have to Just be cautious and really be mindful and think ahead. It's really hard because We know we've we you know, it's labor day weekend. We're we've committed to do this hike We've committed to do do these things and we want people if you're going to do them do them do them safely So under stay cool Things were already mentioned about seeking out seeking out cool temperatures Sometimes people like to use fans Fans are okay, but once the temperature goes into the 90s or higher All you're doing is blowing around hot air doesn't help So fans are fans are not are not sufficient I also want to mention the other difference between when we think about heat stroke heat stroke is when Our temperature gets so high in our body And we're unable to regulate temperature that it has a total body effect multi organ organ system failure And it shows up primarily as neurological neurological symptoms. There are two types of heat stroke One type is what's called classic heat stroke and that's the elderly person Maybe sitting maybe homebound maybe living alone Over several hours and days being exposed to a high temperature Maybe they're on medication, but physiologically they're not able to adapt The other type is exertional heat stroke That can be a healthy person that within 60 minutes can get into trouble If they're exerting and they're producing more heat than they're able to Then they're then then they're able to cool down their body And that's part of the challenge is that you have people who are otherwise Perfectly healthy can get themselves into trouble. So we want people to really be aware of that We want to remember about the most vulnerable the very young the very old infants children elderly Please be careful about leaving people in cars Stay hydrated avoid alcohol caffeinated drinks and sodas If you're going to do sports drinks are okay because they help replace your electrolytes and please take care of your pets Stay connected. Check out checked out on your check check in on your loved ones and have a buddy system If you're going to go if you're going to go out you're going to do that hike Make sure somebody comes with you because if you do get yourself into trouble It can impact your judgment and you may get you if you don't have somebody with you You won't have that help. I've already mentioned about about staying informed The other question we get about is about um sports So the cdc and the nc double a has some good resources online that people can access the california inter scholastic federation Also has good information for Youth sports a b 2800 and 2018 requires all high school Coaches to be certified every two year on how to prevent health illness. This is available online. There's a there's a free training online That's about an hour In general if you feel fainter weak stop all activity Have a really low threshold for seeking out seeking out help getting help and seeking a cool a cool place And the last thing I want to mention is the california department of public health is monitoring all health facilities across california We're working closely with our health local health departments Our ems we're monitoring our ems system through the health and human services Oftentimes the number of calls that go up are not necessarily heat related oftentimes They're people who are just they have a chronic medical condition that just tips over Into being exacerbated because of the heat so they may be showing up with other symptoms So ems calls in general go up. Not necessarily related to heat related illness And so I that's that's all i'm going to cover for right now I'm going to turn it over to secretary natalie palugiai Who's our labor secretary and who's going to tell us about occupational setting. Thank you Thank you very much. Dr. Rada one Hello, everyone. My name is natalie palugiai and I serve as the labor secretary for the state of california Thank you for talking about exertion And also vulnerability You know at the labor agency, we're mostly concerned with our outdoor workers and our vulnerable workers in sectors such as agriculture And construction who are exerting themselves in extreme levels of heat um Calotia of course is the division within the labor agency that is charged with health and safety enforcement and oversees the state's heat illness prevention program I'm going to spend a few moments today here reinforcing what key actions all employers Should be taking with regard to outdoor workers With relation to heat illness Because we know that the most important step we can take is prevention In order to help all of our workers So a couple of things as reminders employers must provide clean cool and free water to their workers We're talking about one court at minimum one court of water Every hour and encouraging workers to drink that water Employers must encourage rest periods throughout the day above and beyond the normally scheduled rest periods Workers have the right to these rest breaks whenever they feel that they need them Uh, and especially during high heat events They should not wait until they feel sick to cool down and take a break Third employers have to provide shade at the work site for outdoor workers Anytime the temperature goes beyond 80 degrees. So we are going way past 80 degrees over the weekend and throughout the next week And that shade also should not exceed 80 degrees. So that area of shade should not exceed 80 degrees Workers have the right to request and be provided shade to cool off at any time again Please employers All of our sectors out there be aware of the signs and be ready to put in place your emergency procedures If you notice any sort of behaviors that indicate heat illness They include vomiting loss of consciousness and most importantly and sometimes the most subtle altered mental state In certain industries, we also are really concerned about excessive heat Uh and employers over the weekend and over the course of next week and throughout this heat wave need to also be following A couple of additional steps Ensuring that their workers are observed regularly for signs of heat illness. So active Observation of workers during this time period and establishing effective communication methods so that those workers Know who to reach out to when they do not feel well Cal OSHA at this time is extremely focused, of course on enforcement Consultation for employers and outreach to workers and worker advocacy groups. They're out in full force They're conducting targeted inspections to ensure that employers are complying with the law With a focus on of course construction agriculture tree trimming Landscaping car wash and also warehouse industries where the heat does come indoors at very extreme levels Employers consultation services are available free of charge Next week we will be hosting four webinars to an english to in spanish on thursday and on friday Uh, we also encourage employers to contact cal OSHA directly Contact their consultation services details are found at our website cal OSHA's website under the consultation page We've also been very focused on outreach to workers and worker advocacy groups and community groups that support Vulnerable workers this past week and that will continue throughout next week and throughout the course of all of this heat Complaints about workplace safety and health hazards can be filed confidentially with cal OSHA In local district offices and these phone numbers are also available on the cal OSHA website I'd like to say a few words in spanish, particularly to our spanish media And to workers that might be listening to this press conference Um For all the workers that are working outside To the free air and speak in spanish In these next days of extreme heat, we all have responsibility to protect the safety and health in the work Especially for you who are in the free air All the workers outside have rights during the hot days and especially during the extreme heat While we are investigating many jobs in these days, especially in the industries of agriculture and construction It is also important that you know your rights You have the right that your employer gives you fresh water In a quantity of 1 litre per hour You have the right to ask for rest at any moment Beyond your normal rest And you have the right to rest under the sun at a temperature of 80 degrees Not more than 80 degrees Don't expect them to feel bad Please take care of your partners, take care of yourselves And indications of health problems, including vomiting An altered mental state And I'm also going to include here If you lose consciousness Please consult your employer immediately If your employer does not give you the water, the rest, and the shade that is part of your rights Please call Kalosha and the website 99calor.org It has all the information you need Thank you very much Next I'd like to introduce Armando Quintero, California State Parks Director Thank you Secretary My name is Armando Quintero and I'm the Director of the California State Park System I'm going to be repeating a lot of the messages that you've heard But this is specific to parks But what I'd also like to say is think about any public lands or even local parks that you may go to With the message that I'm about to deliver You know during heat waves such as this people flood the public lands of the state In fact during the time of COVID we saw an incredible increase of public going to these places Which causes crowding and we've also seen an increase in accidents and things that our park rangers and other staff have to respond to This Labor Day holiday weekend as everyone has said we're expecting excessive heat events throughout the state And this really represents as everyone has said a danger to everyone And of special concern are people who are heading to the state's waterways many for the first time And they go there of course to cool off their bodies, but are unfamiliar with the safety issues around water Which complicates those things that we're talking about relative to being careful about heat events And one of the things that I'd like to absolutely Repeat and enforce is that wear your life jackets I can tell you that every week we see tragedies occurring in the waterways of california and virtually The majority of them occur where people are not wearing life jackets In places where they thought they were going to be perfectly safe So to prevent heat related illnesses or accidents in the out-of-doors, please keep in mind the following And really these are rules that we would follow at home As a longtime parks professional on time a lot of times it seems like people go to parks and the rules suddenly disappear And you can just enjoy yourself when you get there. Well, think about how you would behave at home Excuse me when you go to these public lands So before you go check the status of the park that you want to visit And you can do that by going online looking up the very specific park And you'll get information on expectations around any closures that may be occurring And it could alter the activities that you decide to do with your family And you may even change your mind in terms of finding another place that'll fit Your wishes better than the park that you intended to go to State parks may temporarily shift operations We may close some trails or or some sections of the park and that'll be for public safety So as I said have a backup plan for where you may want to go with your friends and family Also play it safe When you go out to these public lands plan your activities for the cooler parts of the day in the afternoon from say Noon till maybe four or five you need to probably do lower Lower stress physical activities. It'll help you stay safe and with activities such as hiking running Walking during these high temperature events that is extremely dangerous and has been said before Those symptoms come on without you realizing and when we talk about how your mental capabilities shift What happens is you can't tell and that's one of the tricks with the issues around the impact on Our ability to think clearly Hydration is absolutely critical again as has been repeated make sure to continually Have always have water available and best to have cool water available And as Dr. Aragon said you need to avoid alcohol and caffeine Excuse me and sugary drinks And if you're heading to a waterway to cool off Not all the beaches along the california coastline Represent swimmable and safe waters particularly in northern california And one of the things that I just heard a little bit ago is that there's a monsoon that's heading toward california But it's going to veer to the to the East but what it's going to do is generate energy that's going to create higher waves And much stronger rip currents So even if you go to a beach that you're familiar to conditions may be different So make sure you check at the local parks and with local staff what you need to be aware for the safety of you and your family Excuse me and as I said already wear a life jacket That's absolutely critical when you're going out to the waters particularly for your young ones But I can tell you from experience that age doesn't really discriminate when it comes to what can happen when you're in the water And a life jacket can literally save your life I will also say this that as I've visited the state parks There's 340 miles of state park beaches in california There are lifeguard towers at most most of those beaches and when I've talked to the lifeguards who work in those towers Sort of the average when I ask them how many times do you have to get in the water to help somebody in a weekend? Usually it's somewhere in the range of 30 to 40 people And of those times about half the times they all feel that they've actually prevented somebody from a drowning event So when you hear about drownings think about the much higher number of people who are actually rescued And so you don't want to be one of those statistics either the person that was rescued or certainly the person that drowned You complete you can visit parks.ca.gov to learn more about Connecting to whichever park that you'd like to visit and there'll also be information at each of the park sites about how you want to be Aware what you want to be aware of relative to these heat events And on behalf of all of the folks who work with state parks We wish you a really safe and enjoyable labor day holiday And now I would like to present this information in Spanish for the people who are here who need the information in Spanish During hot days like this, many Californians go to parks and beaches to recreate This weekend is the festival of the day of work. We ask all of you to be extremely careful and aware And that we expect an excessive heat in the majority of California And to recreate in an intense heat is a danger for all of us Especially the people who are heading to the waterways From our state for the first time to refresh Delcalor y es posible que no sepan como algunas actividades Recreativas afectan nuestros cuerpos Para prevenir una enfermedad o accidente relacionado con el calor y el recrease Recreación al aire libre tenga en cuenta los siguientes pasos En forma se antes de ir antes de salir de casa Verifique que el estado del parque o playa que desea visitar Y esto es muy importante que el departamento de parques estatales y recreación Puede cambiar temporalmente sus operaciones para proteger la seguridad de la pública durante esta ola de calor Juegue seguro Planifique actividades durante las horas más frescas del día Manténgase a la sombra especialmente durante las horas pico del sol Actividades como correr caminar o Ejercicio durante las altas temperaturas pueden ser extrem extremendo en el peligro y incluyendo la muerte Y dr Bebe mucha agua Evite los líquidos alcohólicos y con cafe cafeina y que pueden Um Pueden salir de eso con más echoes de cuerpo A ver Si les gustaría alcanzar más información sobre los parques uno puede visitar parques Punto k punto G o v Para obtener más información sobre cómo puede protegerse y proteger a sus seres Queridos durante esta ola de calor y durante todo el año En nombre de todo el personal de los parques estatales del estado les deseamos unas vacaciones seguras agradables en el día del trabajo Gracias, so with that i'll return the mic to director killer douche Thanks director All right that concludes um our prepared remarks happy to um take any questions and also reiterate that c e c and c p u c representatives are here as well Mention it i'll refer to chief handling the second but from our intel we do not have any specifics We know there were injuries and and possibly some some bird injuries, but Don't have the specific details on that yet Yeah, at least the past six big fires that i've been out on Just wondering, you know the drought has always played a Factor as far as the dry brush and the winds but the heat really hasn't played a big factor So how do are you guys ensuring that the front line the firefighters? What are they doing differently so that they could continue to protect lives and properties to protect us And that number of four thousand plus is that just statewide or is that mutually? From elsewhere and then lastly the flex alerts Is that something that people should just be doing anyway like a normal thing with the conditions that we're in We're looking ahead this past week Um, let's start off with chief handling the answer the fire questions and then we're turned to So i'll answer your easy question first and that is um, so that 4 000 number Is all firefighters across all agencies local tribal state and federal So great question on How do we as a fire service community Make sure that we're appropriately monitoring Our firefighters in the midst of these very high temperatures so So we do cal fire has a heat illness an injury Prevention program and so Moving into so at the beginning of every fire fire year We're going through that it's it's mandatory that we have all of our personnel go through that in terms of mitigations that they need to take to be able to Monitor themselves as well as the supervisors the company officers that are working with those firefighters to make sure that they're being monitored also Coming into this weekend Our department did issue A advisory to all of our personnel in the department Just reminding them that we would be seeing not only extreme heat but likely more active fire behavior And so Out in the field and on the fire line specifically Every morning there's a briefing before our personnel go out onto the field and this briefing is for all fire personnel from all agencies And usually in our incident action plans we have one to two pages that are specifically Address Heat risks There are things that we can do out on the fire line such as moderating Our activity levels Monitoring each other in terms of Our conditions and making sure that when someone is beginning to feel exhaustion due to the heat That they take a break. We can Move our fire personnel Out of the emergency area so that they can remove their personal protective equipment You know get cooled off with water We have plenty of water out on the line as well as on all the engines as well And we know coming into these kinds of extreme heat events that that's absolutely something we have to monitor So far we have been I would say cautiously. We've been fairly Successful at doing that, but we still have, you know, the hottest days ahead of us So that is something that we watch very very closely because Uh, we don't want to have any Heat illness injuries as a result of the work that we know that they need to do On these fires, but at the same time making sure that we have those mitigation measures in place so that People are getting the rest that they need and and also the water that they need as well Absolutely so We had um So as we came into this um this heat event up in northern california There's a metric called a burning index and the burning index in the northern california area Was um at its record level yesterday And um and with heat Obviously we're going to see any fuel moisture that was in those dead fuels as well as what what's in the live fuels We're going to see that fuel moisture decline We're also not going to see our relative humidities recover as rapidly, especially during the night, which is going to result in much more Extreme fire behavior during the evenings and throughout the night which We're we're all ready for and prepared for as well And so it's really just comes down to the curing of those fuels. So right now our main concern are fires that are Primarily spread as a result of slope and terrain We don't have as many concerns today with the winds Although yesterday as many of you saw especially with the mill and the mountain fire There was very strong winds that were pushing those fires to the north It's our understanding that those will subside somewhat today Which will provide a little bit of relief on the wind wind side of the equation Yeah So as as california is is taking on a transformation of its Electricity industry towards much greater reliance on wind energy and solar energy and energy storage I think the key element of the resource strategy for for the state is making sure that that utility consumer Demand patterns match the needs of the grid. So the price incentive rate structures You're going to see much more systematic Reduction of demand during those period during those periods of stress grid conditions But when we're in a situation like this where we're right up against the margin of the system capability And you have the kind of threats to reliability from fires and and generation plans coming offline that Consumer flexible demand that response can be the difference between the lights staying on or not So it's just a critical piece right now and why we're so appreciative and hopeful that we'll see much more of it across the course of the weekend Thanks Hello everyone alice reynolds president of the public utilities commission. I just wanted to add a couple of additional comments I think the question was On a flexing power should people be doing that anyway And part of the thing to keep in mind is that um at normal times We do have most people through their utilities have time of use rates that encourage the use of power During the day and discourage the use of power during that peak time in the net peak time Between four and nine So it's a good idea to kind of you know use power in different ways throughout the day During normal times. I think what you heard from mr. Mainzer is that it's particularly Important to stay away from power use during that four to nine period during this heat event Especially as temperatures rise come sunday monday tuesday maybe even wednesday and During this time period during an emergency event The utilities have special programs available so that consumers can actually be compensated for reducing their power They're free. You can sign up. You're not penalized for not participating But if you you are able to keep your power use away from the four to nine period So if you are able to achieve a reduction, you'll get compensated So this these programs can be accessed through flex alert.org You just search for your utility and anyone can sign up for compensation during this particular heat event So just wanted to add that. Thank you very much Yes, so this weekend is obviously uniquely concerning We can feel a lot mounting at the moment. It would be nice if the group could address the the element and risk of human error because A lot of the times we are the creators of large catastrophic wildfires and then We have large gusts in the sierra and that was just devastated by calvary last year. So can we kind of address the public as to what they can be doing to ensure that they are not the creator of the next large fire? So great question it's it's hard not to reflect on where we were last year compared to this year and And I will answer your question Last year at this time there was We had 2.3 million acres that had burned throughout the state at this point In 2022 we've had 232,000 acres that have burned in california We are immensely grateful for what we're seeing but that doesn't at all Mitigate the concern that we have obviously for those Residents throughout the state that have been impacted this year by wildfire significantly so and And we've also seen a drop in the number of fires too. So last year we had 6459 fires at this particular point in time and This year 5,979 fires. I would like to think that That the people of california are more aware of The risk of wildfire in the state. I think it's at a much prominent level than it ever has been before and And people understand the risks associated with The activities that could potentially start a fire We've also seen a lot more proactive response in terms of For instance, the forest service on federal lands national forest system lands Not allowing the campfires except outside of improved campgrounds things along those lines You know cal fire as well as many, you know fire service agencies throughout the state Do a lot of prevention messaging associated with campfires making sure that We have bans on residential debris burning during the right times of the year That people are aware that it's simply just a chain dragging behind a trailer can easily start a fire Certainly, you know barbecuing through the weekend and making sure that as people do have barbecues that they're having those barbecues in a safe location and So we have we've put together quite a bit of Messaging this weekend specific to this Certainly, we don't want people using equipment or trying to you know, mow their dry grass to do defensible space work around their house In conditions like this Everything's just so much more receptive to ignition as a result of the heat and the dry conditions so We really feel like the prevention messaging is absolutely critical And we know on a weekend like this when there's a lot of people that are enjoying the outdoors that that risk does increase Just as well as you know the people that are You know driving up and down the state and going to you know all the the amazing places in california