SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash — Avista is making temporary changes to power lines in Washington and Idaho in response to dry summer conditions and increasing wildfire danger in the region.
For over 20 years, Avista implemented the change called "Fire Safety Mode". According to Avista, temporary changes will decrease the potential for wildfires that could happen when re-energizing a power line.
During normal operations, power lines are set to try several times to clear any faults in a line, reducing outage times. In Fire Safety Mode, to reduce the risk of fire, the line stays out until Avista crews determine it’s safe. Only then they will turn it back on.
This procedure can require more time to restore service but decreases the potential fire danger.
Recently, Avista has enhanced Fire Safety Mode by pairing it with a fire-weather monitoring system, which allows system operators and field managers to make more informed decisions to reduce fire risk.
They can change the sensitivity further on a circuit if high winds or other conditions are predicted.
Avista will return the distribution system to normal as soon as weather permits and fire potential decreases.
Learn more about Avista here.
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