PG&E says California wildfire season now far ahead of schedule
California’s drought is accelerating the start of the 2021 wildfire season — and intensifying the pressure on PG&E Corp. to prevent more mega-fires of the sort that drove the state’s largest utility into bankruptcy. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. executives said Wednesday they’ve begun gearing up for wildfire season weeks earlier than usual, including putting helicopters in the air to practice for PG&E’s “public safety power shutoffs.”