Family calls 'close call' after grandma without power for over 10 hours during excessive heat

FRESNO, Calif. -- A California family wants an explanation after their grandmother suffered in the heat in their own home.

The family said PG&E did not give them adequate notice about an outage, and it lasted longer than expected. They fear the situation could've ended much worse.

"I'm still concerned about other old folks that might live in the neighborhood. Check on your family if they're in this neighborhood because the PG&E was out for 10 hours and they might not be okay," Jason Williams said as he worried about his grandmother.

Monday afternoon the power went out for a second time in two weeks at Jason's grandma's house.

"She said that PG&E had knocked on the door around 2 o'clock and said, hey the power's out. They need to fix some powerlines and trees and so your electricity is going to be off for about a half hour," Williams said.

But the outage lasted over 10 hours.

"I got a bag of ice on my way over and brought grandma and my uncle some ice and some fans to plug-in and some batteries," Williams said.

Williams tells Action News, his grandma and uncle who both live in the home, suffer from serious lung conditions and rely on oxygen tanks.

So, they had to contact a medical provider to bring them emergency supplies.

"If either of them goes without their oxygen for even an hour, they get out of breath. My grandma had a pacemaker put in recently. She's 89 years old. She has a lot of health stuff and oxygen is really important," said Williams.

Jason said he's angry about the lack of notice PG&E gave them as well as the inaccurate estimate on time.

"Just be honest, so families can make arrangements," said Williams.

According to PG&E the outage was caused by a downed powerline, calling for urgent repair. This hindering their ability to provide advance notice to neighbors.

"We want to make sure that we try to work with the customers and that if they experience that type of inconvenience that we really do apologize for not being as accurate as we would like to be, in terms of how long it's going to take to make that repair," said Jeff Smith, PG&E Spokesperson.

PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith recommends signing up for PG&E's Medical Baseline Rate if you're reliant on life saving medical equipment. This allows them to track customers who require special arrangements.

"If you're on that Medical Baseline Rate, it is an adjustment on your bill, but it also lets us know of the type of situation and circumstances of individuals in that particular residence," said Smith.

Jason said he's just grateful his grandma is doing okay.

"What if her battery was dead because she doesn't use her cell very often and they have no way of contacting me because the phones out, yeah very lucky," said Smith.