SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — With fire weather conditions in the forecast Wednesday for much of San Diego County, many communities -- and San Diego Gas & Electric -- remained on high alert for potential wildfires.
A National Weather Service-issued Red Flag Warning and Wind Advisory were both set to expire Wednesday evening, but SDG&E has taken precautions by turning off power service for thousands of customers in the East County.
Meanwhile, a special election is set to be held this spring to replace the now-vacant County Board of Supervisors District 1 seat.
Here’s what you need to know for Jan. 15:
TODAY'S TOP STORY:
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - With powerful Santa Ana winds blowing amid dry vegetation and low humidity, public safety power shutoffs will continue throughout portions of San Diego County.
San Diego Gas & Electric began the shutoffs Tuesday as a precaution in areas such as Alpine, Boulevard, Campo, Lakeside, and Santee, among others. A list of impacted communities is available at https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard.
As of 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, over 5,600 customers were without service; nearly 50,000 customers in multiple communities were under a Public Safety Power Shutoffs warning.
Officials said that emergency operations centers were monitoring the high winds and severe wildfire conditions around the clock and will continue to de-energize equipment for safety as conditions warrant.
Community resource centers have opened to assist affected communities. Centers have wi-fi available, along with phone and medical-device charging, and will remain open for customers until conditions improve.
A list of community resource center locations and their hours can be found at https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard.
A map of current power outages can be found at https://www.sdge.com/residential/customer-service/outage-center/outage-map.
MICROCLIMATE FORECASTS:
Coasts
Inland
Mountains
Deserts
BREAKING OVERNIGHT:
San Diego firefighters' quick action prevented a brush fire in Mission Valley from spreading out of control early Wednesday morning
Just before 2:30 a.m., Fire-Rescue crews were dispatched to an area of Qualcomm Way, at the San Diego River and close to trolley tracks, due to a fire that ignited in vegetation.
Firefighters knocked down the fire before it had a chance to grow.
Several witnesses told authorities the blaze may have started in an area known to have homeless encampments.
An official cause of the fire was unknown.
CONSUMER:
(SCRIPPS NEWS) -- The reality is that the popular video-sharing platform TikTok is on track to be shut down in the United States on Sunday unless something happens, like the Supreme Court intervening or TikTok being sold.
Congress passed a bipartisan bill into law in April of last year that banned TikTok from operating in the United States, citing national security concerns. The legislation required TikTok to either divest from its China-based parent company ByteDance, sell the platform to a U.S.-owned company, or face a shutdown on Jan. 19.
The Supreme Court announced Wednesday is a day that opinions from the high court could be released. While that doesn't mean the TikTok decision will come down, it does mean an opinion on at least one case is possible.
Watch Joe St. George's report:
WE FOLLOW THROUGH:
A special election will be held to fill the County Board of Supervisors District 1 seat vacated by Nora Vargas, who officially left her office Jan. 6 despite being reelected in November.
The process would begin with a primary election on April 8; if no candidate receives a majority, the top two vote-getters will move on to a special general election on July 1.
Those who wish to run for the seat need to submit nominations by Jan 28.
County officials estimated that the process to elect a new District 1 Supervisor will cost between $2 million-$6.6 million.
Meanwhile, some in the South Bay are hoping the person who replaces Vargas will make the Tijuana sewage crisis a top priority.
Watch Wale Aliyu's report:
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