Balloon takes out power to 2,100 homes




 

Thousand Oaks High School’s Class of 2019 went out with a bang—literally.

Just minutes after the last of 530 graduates received their diploma at the school’s June 6 commencement, a metallic mylar balloon released by an audience member collided with a transformer overlooking the football field, causing a small explosion that took out power to over 2,000 surrounding homes.

Lori Lyche was at the ceremony to watch her daughter Hannah graduate.

“We were walking to go out the gate to go to the quad to take pictures and I just saw this black mylar balloon floating above us. I turned to say something and all of a sudden I heard something that sounded like firecrackers going off, then a really loud pop,” she told the Acorn.

The sound stopped the departing crowd in its tracks, one observer said.

Lyche said a friend who lives close to the Avenida de Las Flores campus immediately sent her a text.

“She said ‘I hope the ceremony is over because our power just went out.’”

ILL-FATED COURSE—A photo with illustration added shows the offending black mylar balloon (at right) and the transformer it collided with at 6:34 p.m. June 6, leading to a widespread power outage. Courtesy of Kristine Crivier

ILL-FATED COURSE—A photo with illustration added shows the offending black mylar balloon (at right) and the transformer it collided with at 6:34 p.m. June 6, leading to a widespread power outage. Courtesy of Kristine Crivier

In all, 2,100 homes lost electricity when the transformer exploded just after 6:30 p.m., Southern California Edison said. Although SCE initially told customers their electricity would be restored by 10 p.m., some residents who contacted the Acorn said their electricity didn’t go on until the next day.

An Edison rep said around half of the customers, or 838, had their power restored by 7:23 p.m., less than an hour later. The remaining outages were fixed by 4:30 a.m. June 7, the rep said.

Police and fire units arrived at the scene and shut down Las Flores for an hour to ensure cars leaving graduation could safely maneuver around repair crews.

The incident happened just one day after SCE issued a warning about the dangers of mylar balloons, specifically those released during graduation ceremonies.

In all but one of the past five years SCE experienced more metallic balloon outages in June than any other month, a trend it attributes to high school graduations.

Last June saw 206 balloon-related outages; there were 1,128 all year—a record, Edison said.

“Think about it, that’s almost seven outages a day,” Andrew Martinez, SCE’s vice president of safety, security and business resiliency said in a statement. “To prevent these outages this month and all year, metallic balloons should never be released outdoors and should always be tied to a weight as required by state law. When released into the sky, they are a threat not only to safety but to keeping the lights on.”

Mylar balloons have caused so much trouble that a new law went into effect this year requiring metallic balloons made by in-state manufacturers to carry a printed warning about the risks of releasing them.

For her part, Lyche said, the incident didn’t put a damper on a beautiful commencement ceremony for the 2019 TOHS graduating class.

“It happened and then it was over. . . . I was just surprised a balloon could do that,” she said.

Some neighbors who were without power for 10 hours were less understanding.

“If the person (responsible) . . . could deposit $100 Trader Joe’s gift cards into every mailbox on Teasdale (Street) we’d appreciate it. Thanks,” one person wrote on Twitter.