Papers Publish at The Times After Blast Knocks Out Power

After an explosion and fire knocked out electrical power in their West Covina building Tuesday, 55 editorial and production staffers from the San Gabriel Valley Publishing Co.’s three newspapers packed up their editions in progress and dashed to downtown Los Angeles, where they published using Times facilities.

“The whole operation moved here,” said company President George Hoyt as he oversaw production in The Times’ composing room. “This will be a memorable night for our staff.”

The company publishes the San Gabriel Valley Daily Tribune, the Pasadena Star News and the Whittier Daily News with a combined circulation of 126,000, Hoyt said. He said he expected power to be restored to his company’s building today.

“We normally publish three separate papers, but we’ll consolidate all three tonight,” he said.

An electrical short in a circuit panel caused the explosion and fire that knocked out power to the one-story building at 1210 Azusa Canyon Road shortly after 3 p.m., said Battallion Chief Gary Meier of the West Covina Fire Department.

“It was not much of a fire, and was contained in the pressroom,” Meier said. But the room suffered smoke and water damage, he said, estimating the loss at $750,000.

Hoyt said he called Times executives shortly after his plant lost power.

“We’ll lose a lot of sleep (getting the paper out) tonight, but a little esprit de corps comes out of these things,” he said.