Valentine's gift blamed for power outage
Posted: 02/15/2012
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - A Valentine's Day gift is being blamed for a power outage in Southern California.
Southern California Edison spokesman David Song says a helium-filled balloon scored a direct hit on the company's Fontana substation Tuesday night, knocking out power to 15,099 customers.
Song tells The Press-Enterprise the balloon was likely a Valentine's gift. He says it dropped into the substation at about 8:40 p.m.
Song says a utility crew rushed to the station and had the power restored by 9:51 p.m.
The substation was the second to encounter problems in Southern California on Tuesday night. A Huntington Beach substation went out at 7:42 p.m., affecting 21,285 customers. one says power was restored there at 10:38 p.m.
The cause of that outage wasn't immediately known.
Song says balloon-caused outages occur most often around Valentine's Day and in June during school graduations.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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