Wildfire breaks out near Los Angeles

The Saddleridge fire just north of Los Angeles has destroyed dozens of homes and been linked to at least one death, authorities said Friday. The flames led to the mandatory evacuation of about 100,000 residents. Police said one man died of a heart attack amid the fire, KCBS-TV reported. The fire began Thursday night and had consumed more than 4,700 acres by daybreak.

What is California doing to prepare for fire season? Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), whose equipment started last year’s deadly Camp Fire, cut off power to about 2 million Northern California customers in a series of planned blackouts. The utility started to restore power Friday, but it might have to widen the outages as hot, dry winds move into Southern California. Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed PG&E for poor power management, and the company put up barricades around its San Francisco headquarters after facing backlash. Meanwhile, Southern California Edison turned off the electricity for about 20,000 people in Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Kern counties and warned more could lose service as the Santa Ana winds gain strength.

Dig deeper: Read Julie Borg’s report in Beginnings after last year’s Camp Fire about the relationship between climate change and wildfires.

WORLD has updated this report with more information about damage from the fire and power restoration.