Red Flag Warning brings power shutoffs to parts of SoCal on Black Friday

Families rely on generators, smokers after being left in dark

Families were left in the dark as their powers were shut down due to fire risks.

LOS ANGELES - Thousands of Southern California Edison customers were faced with the possibility of safety-related power shutoffs to guard against possible wildfires as strong Santa Ana winds continued to whip through the region.

By 11 a.m. Friday, power was cut off to more than 16,000 SCE customers in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties.

The outages include more than 3,400 LA County residents, 1,800 Orange County residents, 2,900 San Bernardino County residents and 3,400 Ventura County residents.

More than 95,000 SoCal Edison customers remain under power shutoff consideration.

As of 11 a.m., 22,429 customers in Los Angeles County, 5,382 customers in Riverside County and 3,062 customers in Orange County, 48,872 customers in San Bernardino County and 15,901 customers in Ventura County were under consideration for having their power shut off, Edison said.

SCE began ordering the so-called Public Safety Power Shutoffs began early on Thanksgiving Day, and by midnight some 1,350 customers in Los Angeles County and 946 in Orange County were without power, according to the utility's website.

Red Flag Warning brings chance of more power shutoffs

Thousands of Southern California Edison customers were faced with the possibility of safety-related power shutoffs Friday to guard against possible wildfires as strong Santa Ana winds continued to whip through the region.

• Power shutoffs due to fire risk left families in the dark mid-Thanksgiving preps

A red flag warning went into effect at 2 p.m. Thursday and was expected to last until 6 p.m. Saturday for the Los Angeles County mountains and the Santa Clarita Valley.

Winds started picking up Thursday afternoon, with gusts topping out at 75 mph at the Magic Mountain Truck Trail, according to the National Weather Service.

They were expected to reach 65 mph hour in the mountains and Santa Clarita Valley on Friday.

The shutoffs could continue through 3 p.m. Friday, SCE stated.

"SCE does not shut off power based only on weather forecasts -- rather, based on actual conditions in the affected areas," said SCE's Jeff Monford, who said the power would be back on for affected customers within 24 hours.

Shutoffs are designed to reduce the risk of fires caused by electrical equipment when strong winds are forecast. Several large fires in the state have been linked to electrical equipment.

Customers can view a map of current SCE outages online or call 1-800-655-4555.

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