PG&E officials said a helicopter that crashed near Fairfield and killed three people on board Tuesday afternoon was flying on behalf of the utility.
At about 1 p.m. the Bell 206 helicopter came in contact with a 115 kilovolt power line near Vacaville, PG&E spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian said.
The helicopter crashed at about 1:30 p.m. near Lyon and Soda Springs roads with three people on board, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. The Solano County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday night all three people on the helicopter died as a result of the wreck.
At about 3 p.m., PG&E shut off power to about 38,000 customers in the Vacaville/Fairfield area at the request of Cal Fire, which responded to a fire that started because of the crash. The fire burned just a few acres and was out by about 4 p.m.
Sarkissian said PG&E is looking to restore customers from various sources but due to higher, near-summer temperatures in much of the state and the resulting higher demand on the system, it may take some time to restore everyone.
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