Power restored in West LA after Mylar balloons hit power lines
LOS ANGELES - More than 3,000 people in West Los Angeles had their power knocked out Saturday afternoon, after metal balloons hit power lines.
The outages were first reported in the Sawtelle and Westwood areas just after 1:30 p.m. according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
LADWP said that the power was knocked out after Mylar balloons floated up into electrical lines.
"When metallic balloons, often called ‘Mylar’ balloons, float into power lines, they can cause power outages due to their conductive material creates a short circuit when touching the energized line, disrupting the electrical flow," the department reported.
The outages took out power to most businesses and traffic lights from Wilshire Boulevard to Pico Boulevard in Westwood.
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LADWP said that crews were working as quickly as possible to restore power to customers. Within several minutes, power had already been restored to several hundred.
The utility restored power to 537 Westwood customers by 6:15 p.m., according to the map on its website. The 1639 customers in the Sawtelle neighborhood saw power restored by 6:45 p.m., leaving just 65 Westwood customers still without power.
The agency posted on X at 7:12 p.m. that power was restored to all West LA-area customers affected by the outage.