Truckee Power Outage Food Safety: A Rental Fridge Plan

What should you do with rental fridge food in a Truckee power outage?

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors shut, write down the time the power was noticed off, and read the appliance thermometers if the rental has them. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says "The refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours" and a full freezer holds its temperature "for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full)". Past 4 hours without power, refrigerated perishables such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers are discarded. Tell the host early, and never taste food to decide.

Is it a power outage or a broken fridge?

The two have different owners. If the lights, the oven clock and the neighbours' windows are also dark, it is a utility outage. If only the refrigerator has stopped, it is an appliance fault, and that is the host's problem from the first minute.

The Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD, the electric utility for Truckee) tells customers on its outage page to check their circuit breakers and whether the neighbours have power before reporting. In a rental, the electrical panel belongs to the owner. Ask the host where it is and whether they want a guest to touch it. A breaker that trips again after a reset stays off, and the host is told.

Not every rental around the lake is on TDPUD's system; the host or the welcome book names the utility.

Where do guests get outage updates in Truckee?

TDPUD's FAQ answers the rental question directly: "Visitors can visit tdpud.org/outage to find information during a power outage." Visitors can also text TDPUD to 333111 for Nixle emergency alerts, "but alerts will only be sent via Nixle for large-scale outages." The utility's own automated outage texts go only to the contact on the account, usually the owner in a rental. TDPUD takes outage reports at 530-587-3896.

Duration depends on season. TDPUD lists severe winter storms as the primary cause of local outages. During wildfire season, in many cases, it is required "to visually patrol all circuits in an outage to ensure that restoring power does not cause a fire", and the page states the result plainly: "longer outages during wildfire season."

Why keep utility updates out of the food decision?

A restoration estimate is a forecast about the grid. It says nothing about the temperature inside the refrigerator. The food decision rests on two measurements: how long the appliance was without power, and what the thermometer read. Copy utility messages into their own column of the record, and do not let an optimistic restoration time keep raw chicken in a warming fridge.

What should the interruption record include?

One phone note is enough, and it gives the host something to check.

If nobody knows when the power went off, for example overnight, count from the last time anyone saw it on. Photograph each thermometer reading; the phone's timestamp does the rest.

Which temperatures decide it?

FSIS sets the targets: a refrigerator "at 40 °F or below and the freezer is at 0°F or below." Many rentals have no appliance thermometer, so it is worth packing one, along with a food thermometer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives the refrigerator rule: "Discard any refrigerated perishable food (such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, eggs, or leftovers) that has been at refrigerator temperatures above 40°F for 4 hours or more." For a freezer without a thermometer, it says to check each package: "If the food still contains ice crystals or is 40° F or below, it is safe to refreeze or cook." Read the food with the food thermometer, not the air.

How do you keep the cold in while the power is out?

• Keep the doors closed. Open them only to move food out, in one trip.
• Move food to a cooler for a long outage. FSIS says to transfer food to a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs and "Make sure there is enough ice to keep food in the cooler at 40°F or below." The packing method is in the Lake Tahoe picnic food safety plan.
• Do not use the snowbank as a refrigerator. FSIS is explicit: "During a snowstorm, do not place perishable food out in the snow." Outside temperatures vary, and the food is exposed to animals. In bear country that second point matters; see the rental bear food storage plan. FSIS suggests filling containers with water and leaving them outside to freeze instead.
• Leave dry ice to the host. FSIS notes that "Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot freezer for 2 days," with the caution not to touch it with bare hands or place it in direct contact with food. In a rental, whether to bring it in is the owner's decision.

How do you decide item by item when power returns?

FoodSafety.gov's power outage chart is the handoff. It says "You will have to evaluate each item separately—use this chart as a guide." Its refrigerated column applies to food "Exposed to temperatures of 40°F (4°C) or above for more than 2 hours". A sample of its verdicts:

• Raw or leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish or seafood: discard.
• Milk, cream, sour cream and yogurt: discard.
• Soft cheeses such as Brie, mozzarella and cottage cheese: discard. Hard cheeses such as Cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan: keep.
• Butter and margarine: keep.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables, cut: discard. Uncut: keep.
• Bread, rolls, cakes, muffins and tortillas: keep.
• Cooked pasta, rice and potatoes: discard.
• Opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce and horseradish: discard if above 50°F (10°C) for more than 8 hours.

For the freezer, the chart allows refreezing most items that still contain ice crystals and feel cold as if refrigerated; ice cream and frozen yogurt are discarded either way. FSIS adds two rules: discard food that may have been contaminated by raw meat, poultry or fish juices, and throw out anything with an unusual odor, color or texture. Then the one that overrides the rest: "Never taste food to determine its safety. When In Doubt, Throw It Out!"

For meat, poultry and egg questions, the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline is 1-888-674-6854, open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.

What must not happen indoors?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states: "During a power outage, never use generators, grills, or other gasoline-, propane-, or charcoal-burning devices inside your home, garage, or carport or near doors, windows, or vents." Its guidance also says to keep generators outside, at least 20 feet from doors, windows and vents, and not to heat a home with a gas oven. If the rental supplies a generator, it runs only under the host's written instructions and the manufacturer's manual. A guest does not improvise one.

What should you send the host?

One message, sent early: the time the outage was noticed, whether neighbours are out, the current utility status, the latest fridge and freezer readings, and which items are pending a decision. Ask whether they want photographs, and where discarded food goes; the bear-resistant enclosure rules still apply. Once the list of discards is final, the rental grocery shopping plan covers the restock.

Sources

• USDA FSIS: Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies
• FoodSafety.gov: Food Safety During Power Outage
• FDA: Food and Water Safety During Power Outages and Floods
• Truckee Donner PUD: Electric Outage Information
• CDC: Avoiding Carbon Monoxide Poisoning