Oakland Hills Polling Place Closed Due to Fire Risk, More Likely to Lose Power Election Night

Updated 12:45 p.m. Tuesday

Dangerous fire weather conditions shut down a vote center in the Oakland hills on Tuesday morning, coming as PG&E announced it is widening its planned public safety power shut-offs, leaving more polling places in the outage footprint.

The Joaquin Miller Community Center polling place was closed due to a red-flag warning, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Residents were instead directed to a nearby site at Montera Middle School.

Although dry, windy weather was expected to raise the potential for dangerous wildfires by midday Tuesday, PG&E said it would not shut off power until after polls close at 8 p.m. It will likely cut power to approximately 22,000 customers across 17 counties to prevent wildfires sparked by one of its lines — and up to five polling places could be affected, PG&E said.

The utility previously said only two polling places would potentially be in the outage areas.

Most affected customers are located in the North Bay, East Bay hills and the western Sacramento Valley. Two polling places in Vacaville and one each in Los Gatos, Fairfield and Middletown could lose power Tuesday night.

“PG&E has delivered temporary generation for each of these polling locations,” the utility said in an update on its website. “However, if power needs to be shut off for safety, it would occur after in-person voting has ended.”

A red flag warning is now in effect across much of the Bay Area until Thursday morning, as the National Weather Service expects a strong offshore wind event to bring dry, gusty weather. That combined with low fuel moisture increases the risk of dangerous wildfires.

Gusts up to 70 mph are forecast at some high elevations, including the Geysers, Mount St. Helena and Mount Diablo.

Given recent rain, the Bay Area is at relatively low risk of major fires, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. Parts of central and southern California, which haven’t yet had significant rainfall, could be more heavily affected.

PG&E expects the power shutoffs to last until Thursday when winds are expected to die down.