Snapped Line Is Blamed for Power Surge

An electric surge in Anaheim that sparked small fires, caused some appliances to go haywire and temporarily displaced hundreds of residents late Sunday was caused when the “super strong” line that connects to overhead transformers snapped off, fire authorities said.

“I can’t remember a line coming down like that, just snapping off,” said Anaheim Fire Capt. Earl Stokes, a 30-year veteran of the department. “These lines are super strong, meant to stay up there for a decade.”

Old equipment, possibly wiring in the conductors, is suspected, said Melanie Nieman, a spokesperson for the Anaheim Public Utilities, Orange County’s only city-owned power company.

The lines connected to the cylindrical transformers are sturdy, enough to withstand the high-pressure jets of water shot from cleaning trucks, Stokes said.

The source of the outage was a transformer near the intersection of Dorchester and South Elder streets, Nieman said. The energized electrical wire from the transformer collapsed and made contact with cable television equipment on the eaves of homes.

“It’s not out of the realm of possibility, but something like this is rare,” Nieman said. The utility does routine, visual checks of its transformers, she said.

The sudden power surge sparked a small fire in one house, electrified cable lines and caused an outage that prompted the temporary evacuation of 210 residents from 39 homes, authorities said. There were scattered vegetation and fence fires, Stokes said. Smoke wafted from some attic vents.

No one was injured, but one family was housed overnight by the American Red Cross. The others were allowed to return to their homes at about 10:30 p.m., a little more than three hours later.

It’s not unusual for sparking and other problems to increase as the season gets colder and windier, Stokes said. Since Oct. 3, there have been 12 electrical wire problems reported in Anaheim because of high winds and rain.

But it usually takes direct physical punishment, such as an accident, to cause a transformer line to collapse, Stokes said.

Once the line collapsed Sunday, the high voltage of that line was transferred to a cable line with a lower voltage capacity, Stokes said. Because cable lines are often connected to the same system, the extra dose of voltage affected more than one home, he said. The result: a surge of electricity into a few dozen homes, and in some cases, straight into appliances.

At around 8:58 p.m., crews turned off the power to repair the line, Nieman said. Most of the customers had power back by 5:44 a.m. Monday, Nieman said, after a new wire was installed into the transformer.

The American Red Cross provided food and beverages to residents affected by the power surge and ensuing blackout.

Though most families were able to move back into their homes, the Lorenzen family, whose home was nearest to the transformer line, wasn’t so lucky. They were housed in a local motel by the Red Cross.

Cliff Lorenzen said the atmosphere among the residents was “a little like a block party without the barbecue” as they filed into the street.

“The kids enjoyed the excitement . . . but there wasn’t an adult out there who wasn’t concerned that their house was going to fly.”

Lorenzen was in the kitchen baking cookies as the line collapsed. His sons Anthony and Michael, ages 12 and 8 respectively, were watching TV when they heard what Anthony called the “popcorn-popping sound.”

“The backyard had turned green, and there was a flashing,” Anthony said.

The two brothers, who were watching a movie about aliens and cuddled with the dog in the corner couch, were scared at first. They sneaked a peek through the back window panes. Small bolts of fire charged back and forth on the power line above the family’s swimming pool, occasionally exploding in little green, blue, and red explosions, they said.

“It was flashing like fireworks . . . like Disneyland fireworks,” Anthony said, pointing to the shredded power line. “That line was like a laser.”