the fire chief dave whitaker explained the tough conditions they were up against. >> there were very high winds and the entire region is under red flag alert and those conditions aligned with the fuel and steep terrain. >> this is how close the flames got to the homes. there was no significant damage, but it was a little too close for comfort. the power outage did not affect how they attacked the flames but it hindered how people escaped. >> we couldn't throw on lights. we had to gather our lanterns because we had no power and we turned off our phones because we were trying to conserve power so we didn't get any text updates. >> because of the power shut off, we talked about emergency plans and supplies and knew where everything we needed was so i think that made it a lot faster. >> so far a cause has yet to be determined. >>> and here in the bay area, the pg&e outage for santa clara, contra costa, santa cruz and san mateo counties. a third would only impact a few thousand in the current county. pg&e confirmed this morning if you still have power in these counties you're in the clear