Fires and temperatures were under largely control this week, much to the relief of grid, utility and agency officials. Last week’s heat wave was reported to have killed at least four people. They included three elderly persons whose homes overheated and one mid-aged farm worker. President George Bush took an aerial tour of the fire damaged regions with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger July 17. The two discussed effective coordination of resources between California’s local, state and federal partners during the wildfire siege, which at its peak included more than 2,000 fires that have scorched more than 887,000 acres to date. The National Weather Service reported that marine influence moderated temperatures the past week along the state’s coast, though it was slightly hotter than normal in some inland and desert areas. The outlook for the coming week remains much the same, although monsoon moisture is expected to diminish, possibly spiking desert temperatures a bit. Energy loads were down considerably from last week. This past week’s high for the California Independent System Operator was 41,100 MW, which occurred in the afternoon on July 14. “Pretty quiet really--the fires are not a threat right now--lower temps translate to lower loads,” said Gregg Fishman, CAISO spokesperson. The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power experienced a peak power demand of 5,139 MW on Wednesday, July 16. Loads in the upcoming week are expected to be about the same, said department spokesperson Carol Tucker. Sacramento Municipal Utility District experienced peak demand for the week on July 13, when its load hit 2,440 MW. The high temperature that day reached 96 degrees. “Our weather’s tapered off here in terms of heat,” said SMUD spokesperson Chris Capra. Customer conservation also is helping, he said. In the coming week, temperatures in the SMUD area are expected to remain in the low 90s, or even dip into the high 80s. “We don’t see any issues at all,” Capra said. The large fires in Butte and Mendocino Counties were mostly contained this week. State, federal, and international personnel worked to bring the fires under control. However, the governor declared an emergency in Inyo County this week in response to the Inyo Complex fires. Thousands of acres were burned and the situation was exacerbated by thunderstorms, heavy rains, and flash flooding. The proclamation utilizes all resources consistent with the state’s authority under the California Disaster Assistance Act. At the beginning of the week, smoke from the Humboldt fire in Butte County remained hazardous, as well as the smoke from a dozen fires in the South Bay Area. Northern California remains enveloped in smoke. To date, the Governor has declared a state of emergency in the following 12 counties due to wildfires: Butte, Inyo, Kern, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Plumas, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, and Trinity.