SoCal Edison starts power shutoffs ahead of Christmas Eve amid red flag conditions

FONTANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Dangerous winds and red flag conditions across parts of Southern California has some communities bracing for potential power shutoffs.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning due to Santa Ana wind conditions, and as a precaution, Southern California Edison issued a safety-related power shutoff alert for Wednesday and Thursday.

As of Wednesday night, a little more than 149,000 customers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties are under consideration to have power shut off.

Power has also been shut off for approximately 14,500 customers in those counties as of 9 p.m.

The so-called Public Safety Power Shutoffs is designed to reduce the risk of fires caused by electrical equipment when strong winds are forecast. Several large fires in California have been linked to electrical equipment.

Customers can view a map of current SCE outages at www.sce.com/wildfire/psps, or call 1-800-655-4555.

Customers can also sign up for alerts to let them know if the power will be shut off.

Meanwhile, a wind-driven brush fire erupted north of Fontana at about 2 p.m. near Duncan Canyon Road and Sierra Avenue. It grew to about 150 acres, prompting firefighters to bring in helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft before they were able to gain the upper hand on the blaze.

San Bernardino County Fire announced structure threat has been mitigated on the blaze and that forward rate of spread has slowed dramatically.

At one point, some homes were threatened and a few lanes on the northbound 15 Freeway were shut down.