Wind Knocks Out Power To La Cañada Flintridge

LOS ANGELES, CA — Santa Ana wind gusts reaching 75 mph in some areas knocked out power to more than tens of thousands of customers across Los Angeles County Monday. As the winds continue, thousands of others may be affected by deliberate outages by power companies trying to avoid the threat of downed lines triggering wildfires.

The heavy wind gusts left more than 31,000 Southern California Edison customers in Los Angeles County alone without power. In the city of Los Angeles, about 500 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers were left without electricity. The bulk of affected customers were in the Hollywood Hills. area

As of late Monday morning, there were 31,432 Southern California Edison customers affected in county areas served by the utility, including about 1,000 in Monrovia, 600 in the La Canada Flintridge area, and 830 in Sierra Madre.Most of the outages were attributed to the gusting winds. But as the winds continue, customers in some areas might have their power cut voluntarily by utilities as they monitor fire-danger conditions. Utility companies such as Edison monitor conditions during extreme-fire conditions and can cut power in select areas to reduce fire danger from damaged electrical lines.

Officials in Malibu said Edison notified the city Monday morning that it was monitoring conditions in the area under the Power Safety Shutoff Program.

"Residents should be prepared for possible power outages," according to an alert sent out by the city.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo: Shutterstock