Avista reports tens of thousands without power, outlines staged restoration and safety checks

Heather Rosentrader, chief executive of Avista, updated officials on gas and electric service impacts from the fires and the utility's planned response. She said Avista has mobilized over 50 crews and engaged peer utilities to provide mutual aid; crews are standing by to assess damage and restore service when incident command grants safe access.

Rosentrader gave customer counts: roughly 5,000 gas customers were taken out of service at the request of emergency responders and cannot be restored until incident command approves entry; the electric outage affected just over 20,000 customers in Spokane County, of which about 6,700 were shut off proactively for public-safety power shutoffs. She described gas restoration as complex because crews must visit each restored home for safety checks and noted that some transmission-line damage in restricted areas will delay broader restoration until crews can enter safely. Avista said it does not believe its facilities caused the ignitions of these major fires.