As the summer begins, and concern for wildfires grows, Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) continues to enhance its historic preventative program, including vegetation management and proactive equipment maintenance that considers wildfire risk.
Although wildfires have many causes, from lightning to an unattended campfire spark, electric utilities are doing their part to help keep communities safe.
Each year, we trim thousands of trees and clear vegetation. As an added precaution, we are shredding and mulching the underbrush beneath power lines in high-density areas.
In mountain areas, we reconfigure protective equipment to shut down power lines at the first sign of an electrical fault. The line won’t be re-energized until it is inspected and manually reset.
On portions of overhead power lines, we install current-limiting fuses, which are filled with sand, to help isolate faults and eliminate arcing resulting from fault conditions.
In recent years, we have expanded our tree trimming program throughout our service territory, and while we clear vegetation in the rights-of-way, please take precautions to protect yourself and your property.
To reduce the risk, consider the fire resistance of your home, the topography of your property, and the nature of the vegetation close by.
Maintain defensible space around your home, business, or property. This space is needed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire, and it helps protect your home from catching fire, either from direct flame contact or radiant heat. Defensible space is also important for the protection of the firefighters defending your home.
Get ready for wildfire season by downloading the CAL FIRE Wildfire Preparedness App on the Ready for Wildfire App.
Together, we can reduce the impact of wildfire on our community and cooperative.
Stay up to date on outage communications from PSREC:
- PSREC will post outage information on our website, social media (Facebook and Twitter), and via text message.
- To sign up for text message notifications, log in to SmartHub from our website or the SmartHub app and set your notification preferences. If you need assistance signing up for notifications, please call us at (800) 555-2207.