as of 8:00 PM PT • Rio Dell Volunteer Fire Department • Rio Dell Times
About 3:11 • no narration • every source credited on screen • newest first
Friday, October 23, 2026 — Latest, as of 8:00 PM PT Power shutoffs possible tonight. PG&E says about 644 customers in parts of seven Northern California counties may have power shut off for safety starting Friday night because of strong winds and low humidity: Butte 284, Shasta 272, Solano 43, Yolo 17, Napa 16, Lake 6 and Sonoma 6. Humboldt and Mendocino are not on the list. Customers get another notice within three hours of a shutoff; check an address at pge.com/pspsupdates (PG&E, 1 PM update). The Sacramento Bee reports PG&E expects gusts of 40 to 60 mph in the northern Sierra foothills, parts of Shasta County and the North Bay hills late Friday into Saturday morning, easing Saturday afternoon (Sacramento Bee).
Fires. CAL FIRE’s active-incident list shows three fires: the Cooley Fire west of Cloverdale (Mendocino County), 1,365 acres, 86% contained as of 5:16 PM; the Norte Fire (Orange County), 570 acres, 100% contained; and the Soda Fire (Siskiyou County, Klamath National Forest), 14 acres, 50% contained (CAL FIRE incidents).
Cooley Fire: details (click to open)
Friday (CAL FIRE, 5:24 PM): firefighters worked on hotspots and strengthened containment lines; uncrewed aircraft (drones) helped ground crews find hotspots. 71 personnel and 7 engines were assigned as of 6:04 PM (CAL FIRE).
Thursday: the fire went to 80% contained; CAL FIRE said the day’s rain helped but also made afternoon access harder. The incident moved back to CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit management under a three-day plan, with resources being reduced.
Structures: CAL FIRE said Tuesday there were no structures damaged or destroyed. Cause: under investigation. Fire information line: (707) 371-6591.
Video: the Cooley clip is CAL FIRE’s own footage of Konocti Crews 4 and 5 improving a dozer line as a CAL FIRE C-130 drops retardant, posted on the incident page Oct. 20 (original).
Norte Fire: containment, rain, lawsuit (click to open)
Containment: CAL FIRE lists the Norte Fire (Orange County Fire Authority) at 570 acres and 100% contained; the Sacramento Bee’s fire tracker reported it fully contained as of noon Friday (CAL FIRE; Sacramento Bee).
Rain on the burn scar (KTLA, Thursday): the storm caused a debris flow and minor flooding along Via Banderas in San Juan Capistrano, downhill from the burn scar (KTLA 5). NWS San Diego had a flood advisory for parts of Orange County Friday evening (NWS alerts).
Lawsuit (ABC7, Monday): a law firm filed a complaint for a San Juan Capistrano resident alleging San Diego Gas & Electric is responsible, citing an SDG&E outage on circuit 197 posted two minutes before OCFA reported the fire. ABC7 reported SDG&E said it is cooperating with OCFA, the cause of the outage is under investigation, and there is “currently no basis to conclude” a connection between its facilities and the ignition (ABC7). This is an allegation; the official cause remains under investigation.
North Coast and fire weather (click to open)
Humboldt and Mendocino: NWS Eureka has a Frost Advisory for coastal and interior Humboldt and coastal Mendocino and a Freeze Warning for interior Mendocino, northern Lake and Trinity counties, 1 AM to 9 AM Saturday (NWS).
Red Flag Warnings: the National Weather Service’s active-alert list for California at 7:51 PM PT showed no Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches (NWS alerts).
Wind: KCRA 3 meteorologist forecast north winds of 10 to 20 mph through Friday evening in the Sacramento area (KCRA 3).
Prescribed burns: KRCR reports the Shasta-Trinity National Forest plans to begin prescribed fire operations Sunday, Oct. 25, on three projects totaling about 759 acres (KRCR).
Earlier this month locally: the Surgone and Marshall fires (Oct. 11, Weitchpec/Hoopa area) no longer appear on CAL FIRE’s active list; Humboldt County lifted the Marshall Lane evacuation warnings Oct. 13 (Humboldt County OES).
Season: CAL FIRE’s 2026 totals: 6,219 wildfires, 339,171 acres, 3 fatalities, 175 structures destroyed. The National Interagency Fire Center’s Friday report put the nation at Preparedness Level 1 (CAL FIRE; NIFC).
Sign up for alerts:Humboldt Alert. Evacuation order means leave now. Emergency: 911.
Transcript (click to open)
Time
Speaker
Words
0:05
KCRA 3 anchor
Meantime, another round of PG&E power shutoffs could go into effect today, and this time it’s on a smaller scale than the last time. That’s when more than 80,000 customers were affected. Here’s a look at the outage map. The areas marked in orange are where the shutoffs could happen [as heard]. It includes parts of Solano, Yolo and Sonoma counties. The shutoffs aren’t guaranteed, but if they do go into effect, it won’t be until tonight. Power should be restored by tomorrow.
0:30
KCRA 3 meteorologist
Now, as that energy breaks apart, we do have a wind that will come out of the north. It’s very light right now, about 5 to 10 miles per hour. So just a very light breeze. But through the afternoon, this wind is going to increase. And we have these winds about 10 to 20 miles per hour that will linger all the way through the evening. And that’s what’s going to bring temperatures back into the low seventies later on this afternoon.
0:53
Action News Now anchor
And as the weather shifts, we could see more PG&E public safety power shutoffs. The utility announced that areas in Butte and Shasta counties are under PSPS watch and that shutoffs are likely tomorrow and Saturday. You can see the area in the orange here from the PG&E map where power may be shut off starting Friday, tomorrow, 7 p.m. In Butte County, it will affect the wider Concow area, and in Shasta County, the area near Montgomery Creek. We will keep you updated as PG&E continues to evaluate.
1:25
CAL FIRE crew radio (field sound)
[Brief crew radio; aircraft and equipment sound.]
1:45
KTLA anchor
The latest storm passing through Southern California, causing debris flow and some minor flooding near the Norte Fire burn scar area in Orange County. This video is from last night along Via Banderas and Calle Canada [as heard] in San Juan Capistrano. That is downhill from the burn scar. The Norte Fire burned 570 acres and destroyed six homes on Friday. It is now 95% contained.
2:11
Bianca Bono, ABC7
New today, a law firm that specializes in wildfire cases has filed a complaint on behalf of a San Juan Capistrano resident who had to evacuate, alleging San Diego Gas and Electric Company is responsible. The complaint states that on Friday at 11:31 a.m., SDG&E’s website posted that it had an outage on circuit 197, which is northwest of Eminencia del Norte in San Clemente. Two minutes later, OCFA reported the start of the fire, and the ignition site was in that same general area. … In a statement, SDG&E says they are cooperating with OCFA, confirming the outage on Friday in San Clemente, but say the cause of that outage remains under investigation. They said smoke and ash from fires can cause electric outages, and there is currently no basis to conclude that there is a connection between their facilities and the ignition.
Figures in the clips were current when they aired: KTLA’s “95% contained” and “six homes” (Thursday morning) are older than CAL FIRE’s current 100% and OCFA’s count of seven homes damaged or destroyed. KCRA’s county list covers its Sacramento-area viewers; PG&E’s full list is above.
Figures: CAL FIRE, PG&E, NWS, NIFC and Humboldt County OES, with KCRA 3, Action News Now, KTLA 5, ABC7, KRCR, Sacramento Bee and Press Democrat (PG&E story), read 7:50–8:00 PM PT. Numbers change.
Clips used under fair use for news commentary; sources are credited in the video.
No narration or synthetic voices; all audio is from the original news and official sources. CAL FIRE footage is official agency video.
