Phone and Electrical Service Cut

Failures of a telephone switch station and an electrical circuit left residents in Van Nuys and Woodland Hills without telephone service and electricity at different times Thursday, utility officials said.

An early-morning switch failure left about 43,000 Pacific Bell customers in the 781-prefix area without phone service for about 25 minutes starting at 7 a.m., company spokeswoman Kate Flynn said. Customers were able to call within the exchange area but could not make calls outside the exchange, she said.

A circuit failure of unknown origin left about 800 residents without electricity for about half an hour starting at 1 p.m., said Debra Sass, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Another 100 residents were without power until about 2:30 p.m.

The power failure affected residents between Kittridge and Sylvan streets to the north and south, Van Nuys Boulevard on the east and Kester Avenue on the west, Sass said.

Another Pacific Bell power failure occurred Wednesday night, this one caused by a phone cable that was severed by another utility company. It left about 400 Woodland Hills residents without service between 10 p.m. and midnight, Flynn said.