Transformer Fire Causes Power Outage

Eighty-four residents lost power for at least five hours Thursday afternoon because of an underground transformer that caught fire, Southern California Edison officials said.

Residents of Thorncroft Court, Bucksmoore Court, Clayford Avenue, Barclay Court, Kelsford Court, Willowgreen Court and Stonesgate Street were among those affected by the outage, said Tom Boyd, an Edison spokesman.

Edison officials did not know what caused the blaze, which firefighters quickly extinguished, said Joe Luna, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

At about 1 p.m., area residents told Edison officials about the outage, crews were sent to fix the problem on the 1200 block of Willowgreen Court. A nearby underground switch that would have isolated the problem to six customers also failed, said Rudy Gonzales, region manager for Edison’s Thousand Oaks branch.

Power was expected to be back for all but six customers by 6 p.m., when the switch was replaced, Gonzales said. The remaining customers were expected to have power back at 9:30 p.m., he said.