SIMI VALLEY : Outage Hits 2,000 Houses, Businesses
About 2,000 Simi Valley residences and businesses were without electricity early Monday after an underground cable switch shorted-circuited and set a power pole ablaze, officials said.
The power outage occurred shortly after 10 a.m. in the 1800 block of Patricia Street, at the west end of the city, said Carol Larson, area manager for Southern California Edison.
The fire was quickly extinguished by firefighters and electricity was restored to the majority of residents and merchants in the area within an hour, Larson said. However, about 260 customers were without power until 3:30 p.m., she said.
Some merchants at nearby Mountain Gate Plaza said they shut down their businesses for an hour or more, while others remained open during most of the outage.
Larry Martinez, manager of Michael’s, an arts and crafts store, said that although his business did not have lights, an emergency generator kept cash registers operating. He said the store’s huge front windows provided enough sunlight for customers to keep shopping.
Edison officials said they are still investigating what caused the short-circuit in the 16,000-volt underground power line.
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