Edison International is warning it may cut power to as many as 14,000 homes and businesses in Southern California as a wildfire burns near Santa Barbara, Bloomberg News reported. The Cave Fire began Monday afternoon and has ripped through about 4,100 acres in the Santa Ynez mountains, prompting more than 6,300 evacuations, according to Santa Barbara County officials. It also threatens Edison’s transmission lines that provide power to the region, officials said. The blaze has left about 1,400 customers without power, and Edison has preemptively cut off electricity to 350 others to prevent live wires from sparking more fires in high winds, a spokeswoman said. The utility may expand the blackouts if conditions worsen, she said. California utilities have cut power to millions of people this year to prevent live wires from sparking wildfires in high winds. It comes after the state’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., filed for bankruptcy in January facing $30 billion in liabilities from blazes blamed on its equipment.
