Man Shocked as Power Lines Fall

An elderly man was shocked Sunday when power lines fell on a Westchester garage and set it ablaze, Los Angeles fire officials said.

The man, about 70, was not believed to be seriously hurt, Fire spokesman Kevin Isozaki said. He was in stable condition at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey. His name was not released.

The fire started about 6:20 p.m. when sparking power lines fell on the garage in the 6900 block of West 77th Street at about 6:20 p.m., Isozaki said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 35 minutes, but the building was heavily damaged, Isozaki said.

It was not clear what knocked down the power lines, but Isozaki said a repair crew from the Department of Water and Power was working in the area at time. A water leak, which started bubbling up under the garage, also complicated matters, he said.

DWP spokeswoman Lucia Alvelais said power to a receiving station in Westchester was interrupted for about 20 minutes, starting at 6:21 p.m. But she said she was unaware of the fire and did not know if the outage was caused by the fire or ongoing repairs.