AWFUL

Man on Oxygen Tank Died During PG&E Power Shutdown: Officials

Officials said the man died just minutes into the shutdown but did not say if the outage led to his death.

Fire officials say a man on an oxygen tank in Northern California died about 12 minutes after energy company PG&E shut down power to almost 800,000 customers in the area. According to the Associated Press, El Dorado County Fire Chief Lloyd Ogan said an emergency call came in at around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and responders arrived to find an unresponsive man in his 60s. They were unable to revive him. Ogan confirmed that the man's oxygen equipment required power, but could not say if the PG&E shutdown was related to his death. A company spokesperson said it has been unable to confirm the accuracy of what officials stated. PG&E cut off power to prevent its equipment from sparking a wildfire, but it has since restored power to 426,000 businesses and residences. Over 300,000 customers still remain without power.