Just to provide some context, there was a pretty big fire in Southern California[1] the same week as the PG&E blackouts. The humidity across CA was really low, which is just as much as a factor as the wind. On one hand, the blackouts were probably excessive, and possibly politically motivated. On the other, no major wildfires occurred in PG&E territory, but a fairly large one happened in LADWP territory[1]. PG&E is in tough spot, no one will know for certain if the blackouts actually accomplished anything, but if a wildfire occurs and they don't cut the power, then they hold the liability.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/11/photos-saddleridge-fi...