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 power was knocked out after Mylar balloons floated up electrical lines.

“When metallic balloons, often called ‘Mylar’ balloons, float into power lines, they can cause power outages due to their conductive material creating a short circuit when they touch the live line, disrupting the electrical flow,” the department reported .

The outages knocked out power to most businesses and traffic lights from Wilshire Boulevard to Pico Boulevard in Westwood.

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LADWP said crews were working as quickly as possible to restore power to customers. Within minutes, power had already been restored to several hundred.

The utility restored power to 537 Westwood customers by 1 p.m. 18.15, according to the map on its website. The 1,639 customers in the Sawtelle neighborhood saw power restored at 6:45 p.m., leaving only 65 Westwood customers still without power.

The agency wrote on X at 7:12 p.m. that power had been restored to all customers in the West LA area affected by the outage.