Metallic Balloons Are Menace, SCE Says

A colorful metallic balloon may be an effective, though not so subtle, vehicle for expressing your love on Valentine's Day, but if you ask Southern California Edison, it is an inflatable, heart-shaped menace. If released, SCE warns, the warm and fuzzy feeling delivered by these balloons can quickly lead to charred wires and power outages.

Helium-filled metallic balloons can drift and come in contact with high-voltage lines where electricity can arc across the balloons, cause short circuits, burn wires and interrupt service, SCE said.

Resulting power outages may last from a few minutes to several hours, lead to inoperable stoplights and traffic problems, according to William Messner, SCE's acting director of Corporate Environment Health and Safety, told City News Service.

"SCE wants everyone to enjoy celebrating Valentine's Day, but we also want to urge people to keep metallic balloons indoors,'' he said.  'If they do take them outdoors, customers should keep them tightly secured to prevent them from drifting into power lines and causing outages."

From 2000 to  2010, SCE's local electrical grid experienced more than 3,915 balloon-caused power outages. Last year, there were 415 balloon-related outages, making it the second worst year since 2007, when there were 478 outages, according to the utility, which serves a population of nearly 14 million in a 50,000-square-mile service area.

In 2010, nearly 620,000 SCE customers had their power interrupted due to
metallic balloon-related outages.

SCE recommends the following safety rules for handling metallic balloons:

• Do not attempt to retrieve a balloon or any foreign object tangled in power lines. Instead, call SCE at (800) 611-1911 and report the problem.

• Keep metallic balloons indoors, and never release them outside.

• Never attach metallic streamers to any balloon, latex or metallic.

• Be sure to secure a helium-filled balloon with a weight heavy enough
to prevent it from drifting away. (It's unlawful to sell metallic balloons
without a string weight.)

• Never go near a downed or dangling wire, and keep others away. Immediately call SCE at (800) 611-1911 to report the problem, or contact the police or fire department.

City News Service contributed to this report.