The 2017 Tubbs Fire, which killed 22 people and destroyed 5,600 buildings, was already a stressful time at Alliance Medical Center’s clinic here, as workers who picked grapes in the nearby vineyards streamed into the nonprofit community health center with burns, symptoms of smoke inhalation, and other crises.
Then, the power went out.
Work at the center, about 70 miles north of San Francisco ground to a halt. Staff couldn’t access electronic health records or fill prescriptions. The refrigerators used to store medications stopped working, destroying $30,000 worth of vaccines.
“We’d be fine if we never had to live through that again, but the reality is we will,” said Alliance CEO Sue Labbe. “But we’ll be prepared now.”
In May, the clinic — which serves 13,000 patients per year, mostly…
