Fire Prompts Overnight Evacuations During PG&E Outage

A fire prompted dozens of evacuations in Moraga during PG&E's intentional power outage on Oct. 10, 2019.
Photo credit Moraga-Orinda Fire Department

A brush fire that broke at 1 a.m. Thursday in Moraga forced residents of 140 homes to flee shortly after PG&E intentionally cut power in the area. 

The 40-acre blaze burned land near the Sanders Ranch development and St. Mary's College. It was spread by winds of 15 mph. 

"The flames were all over the place," said one woman who saw the fire from her backyard. She told KCBS Radio that her family quickly bundled up and luckily had a full tank of gas and working flashlights.

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There were no reports of injuries. Authorities began lifting the evacuation orders around 5:30 a.m.

A post shared by KCBS Radio (@kcbsradio) on Oct 10, 2019 at 9:54am PDT

Authorities said there was also a small fire that was quickly contained when a power line came down in the front yard of a home in East San Jose. 

"Fortunately for us, we had an early response and early notification and we were able to keep it to a small, little fire in front of the house," said San Jose Fire Battalion Chief Johnny Dellinger.

Better view of the damage at this East San Jose home where 2 small vegetation fires were sparked by downed power lines... pic.twitter.com/xLBYObx4pP

— Matt Bigler (@mattbigler740) October 10, 2019

Matt Bigler contributed reporting. 

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