Felled Power Pole Causes Fire, Outage

Someone apparently desperate for copper wiring chopped down a wooden power pole Tuesday morning, knocking down the live wires, sparking a small fire and knocking out power for about 1,200 homes in western Ventura.

The 8 a.m. fire occurred in the river bottom, behind an abandoned oil refinery near Crooked Palm Road. Because of the dry Santa Ana wind conditions, it prompted a massive response, said Joe Luna, a spokesman with the Ventura County Fire Department.

“Any time you have strong wind conditions like we’ve had, we’re on heightened alert,” Luna said.

The fire only burned about 100 square feet, he said.

Firefighters found tools, an ax and sunglasses next to the downed pole, Luna said.

“We’re really just speculating, but we think he was after the copper wire,” he said.

It took workers from Southern California Edison about an hour and a half to get power back to the area between Casitas Springs and Mission Avenue in Ventura, said Mike Montoya, a regional manager for the company.

Montoya said he could not recall a similar incident, and speculated that if indeed the suspect wanted the wiring, he probably thought the line was not active.

“It carries about 16,000 volts so he probably got quite a scare when that thing came down,” he said.

No arrests were made as of late Tuesday afternoon, Montoya said.