Dangerous fire conditions have resulted in an unexpectedly long school closure for Bruins, many of whom have been without power in their homes alongside other Northern California residents.
Following fires in the state last year that were found to be caused by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) equipment failures, the company made the decision to shut off power to customers when particularly dangerous weather conditions became prevalent. As Red Flag Warnings were recently issued to several counties in Northern California, the power was shut down late Tuesday night. Due to the Nevada Joint Union High School District’s lack of unified electricity and access to water across its several school campuses, Bear River classes were cancelled from Wednesday, October 9 through Friday, October 11.
Most businesses and homes have now regained power, but a few still remain without electricity or water.
Bear River’s Facebook page announced the first closure in a post stating, “Due to the power outages, there will be no school for today, Wednesday 10/9/19.”
Later the same night, they extended the closure.
“No school tomorrow, 10/10/19,” the additional post said. “Although electricity may be restored this evening, or early tomorrow, the district is erring on the side of caution. Athletes, you will be notified by your coaches for their plans.”
In a poll of Bruin Athletes on the Bear River Current Instagram, with over 50 responses, only 56% said that practice for their sport continued as normal.
Bear River Music has also been affected, with their “Swing into the Night” performance/swing dance that was meant to take place Saturday, October 12, being postponed.
“Due to the continued power outages, we are forced to postpone Swing into the Night,” a recent Bear River Music Instagram post is captioned. “The new date is not yet determined, but will be in early 2020. Purchased tickets will be honored at the new date or refunded.”
Several Bruins described what they’ve used their extra time off from school for.
“I’ve read and gotten caught up on some homework,” said Senior Connor Ronka. “We’ve had to eat a lot of the perishable foods in the fridge. I think I ate like fifteen slices of bacon yesterday.”
“I’ve helped clean out our garage, which was awful,” said fellow Senior Adam Merrill.
“I’ve just sat around and tried to catch up on any homework I could manage to do without Internet,” said Junior Maddie Pratt.
Others also mentioned difficulties regarding the extent of their ability to complete homework.
“Literally everything requires electricity,” said Merrill. “I can’t do homework.”
A few teachers have extended the deadlines on assignments, including English Teacher Toby Barmeyer, who sent a message out to her Advanced Placement (AP) Literature students to inform them of the change.
Some students expressed concern about the quarter ending, which was meant to take effect on Friday, October 11. Bear River Principal Christopher Roberts explained how this situation will be resolved.
“Teachers have until Wednesday to get grades in,” he said. “That would give students the next three days to get assignments in and make up tests and quizzes.”
Many rumors went around during the outage about when exactly the power would be restored. Pratt added her input regarding the question.
“I have no idea, but I hope it ends soon,” she said.
