California Homes Face Shutoffs as Santa Anas Raise Fire Risks

Thousands of homes and businesses north of Los Angeles face the risk of potential power cuts over the next two days as weak to moderate Santa Ana winds bring dangerous fire weather conditions.

Southern California Edison is considering shutting off power to 4,639 homes and businesses in Los Angeles County, as well as another 297 in Ventura County, the utility said on its website.

Seasonal windstorms have fanned stray sparks into some of the state’s most destructive fires, including blazes that consumed more than 16,000 structures around Los Angeles in January 2025.

Red flag fire warnings are up in the area through 6 p.m. local time Saturday as dry winds gusting up to 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour are forecast to roll through the area, the National Weather Service said. That includes the Santa Clarita Valley, as well as parts of the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains.

Destroyed homes after the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

“It fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property,” the weather service said.

The area has an elevated, or level 1, risk of fire weather conditions Saturday, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center. California has entered the most perilous stretch of its year-round fire season, when hot, arid winds roll down from the mountains and out to sea.

In recent years, electric utilities have shut off power to avoid liability for any blazes that get started.

How scientists make the call to cut the power is a complicated nexus of data, technology and human judgment. Data from thousands of weather stations is fed into AI models to assess the risks, while utilities also track how much moisture is packed into grasses and brush, to determine how quickly they could ignite.

Top photo: Southern California Edison (SCE) power transmission lines in Thousand Oaks, California. Photographer: Kevin Carter/Getty Images. Bloomberg.