On a bald, fire-scarred spot in the Mayacamas Mountains east of Geyserville, two Pacific Gas and Electric workers on Tuesday installed the latest link in the utility’s multibillion-dollar effort to build a defense against wildfires.

Working from a pair of bucket trucks, the technicians mounted the 14th weather station in Sonoma County 25 feet high on the steel lattice of a high-voltage transmission line.

On the ground, PG&E meteorologist Ashley Helmetag peered at a laptop computer to check the function of the solar-powered device. It measures wind, temperature and humidity and transmits the data every 10 minutes to PG&E’s wildfire-safety operations center in San Francisco.

The embattled utility, which sought bankruptcy protection in January with an estimated $30 billion in liabilities for the deadly California wildfires of 2017 and 2018, plans to have at least 600 weather stations operating in high-risk fire areas of its 70,000-square-mile territory by the year’s end. PG&E serves 5.4 million customers from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.

Those stations will be complemented by 100 high-definition cameras capable of zooming in on infernos and pinpointing their locations day and night.

Three of PG&E’s cameras are part of the ALERTWildfire North Bay network of 13 cameras serving parts of Sonoma County from high points like Sonoma Mountain, Geyser Peak and Pepperwood Preserve.

“PG&E is really pulling out all the stops to mitigate wildfire risks,” said Helmetag, who is in charge of locating most of the 1,300 weather stations the utility plans to add by 2022. “We are targeting the most vulnerable areas.”

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