XPost: oc.general, alt.california, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: incompetence@msnbc.com   
      
   Power was restored to the remaining 94,000 Los Angeles   
   Department of Water and Power customers Sunday morning hit by a   
   more than 12-hour outage the San Fernando Valley after an   
   explosion crippled an electrical receiving station in Northridge.   
      
   Power was fully restored about 8:45 a.m., according to DWP   
   spokesman Michael Ventre. The DWP is telling customers in the   
   Valley to check their circuit breakers if they still don’t have   
   power.   
      
   An explosion at the DWP's Northridge plant Saturday caused a   
   fire that burned for hours, knocking out traffic lights,   
   stranding people in elevators and leaving huge swaths of the San   
   Fernando Valley without power, officials said.   
      
   The outages hit businesses and residents in Northridge,   
   Winnetka, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Tarzana, North Hills, Granada   
   Hills, Chatsworth, West Hills, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills,   
   DWP officials said.   
      
   Power was out for 13 hours at Pacifica Senior Living, an   
   assisted senior living facility in Northridge. Staffers handed   
   out wet towels and water and a generator kept emergency lights   
   running in the hallways but residents’ rooms remained dark,   
   without air conditioning.   
      
   “It was a bit rough,” said Cristina Gutierrez, the facility’s   
   executive director. She sent staffers to Target on Saturday   
   night to buy lanterns so residents could have light in their   
   rooms shortly after the power went out at 7 p.m. Residents also   
   gathered in the main entrance hall to keep cool.   
      
   Gutierrez said she’s frustrated with the DWP because she wasn’t   
   able to get updates on when power would be restored. She said   
   she called the utility, but that she wasn’t given an answer on   
   whether it would be hours or days before the power came back on.   
      
   Power was eventually restored about 8 Sunday morning, she said.   
      
   Porter Ranch resident Pat Pope was at the Hollywood Bowl on   
   Saturday night, attending the "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of   
   Azkaban" concert when he started getting texts from friends   
   about the power outage.   
      
   When Pope got home at 11:30 p.m., it was 86 degrees, he said.   
   Power was out all night, Pope said, adding that he didn’t get   
   much sleep because of the heat. He said he could hear the sound   
   of his neighbors’ generators running.   
      
   At church on Sunday, he said he heard a lot of grumbling about   
   the lack of power and the heat.   
      
   “It was just a nasty night for a lot of people in the Valley,”   
   Pope said. He said his power was restored shortly after 6 a.m.   
      
   Initially, officials said, 140,000 customers lost power. As of   
   11 p.m. Saturday, 94,000 were still without power. Officials   
   said the blast caused major damage at the facility and that   
   repairs were continuing through the morning.   
      
   Residents of an apartment complex near the DWP plant on   
   Parthenia Street in Northridge reported hearing an explosion at   
   the plant just before 7 p.m., and firefighters arrived to find a   
   gigantic container of mineral oil – used as a cooling agent for   
   electrical equipment – on fire, said Los Angeles Fire Department   
   spokesman Brian Humphrey.   
      
   Humphrey said firefighters had controlled the blaze by 8:30 p.m.   
   and were able to extinguish the flames by 9 p.m. “These were   
   fierce flames, with smoke towering more than 300 feet into the   
   sky,” Humphrey said.   
      
   No one was injured. He said mechanical failure related to   
   cooling equipment might have caused the explosion, though the   
   investigation was still young.   
      
   Humphrey said firefighters rescued dozens of people who were   
   stranded in elevators. He urged people to limit travel through   
   areas where traffic lights were down, and to use battery-powered   
   lanterns and flashlights rather than candles.   
      
   Power was shut off at the DWP plant to allow firefighters to   
   fight the blaze.   
      
   The loss of power came at the peak of a heat wave that pushed   
   temperatures to 100 degrees in many parts of the Valley. As of 9   
   p.m., the temperature in Woodland Hills was 84 degrees. Highs   
   should reach into the 90s Sunday.   
      
   “Initial reports of fire affecting a major part of Receiving   
   station involving 230 Kilovolt equipment. All power cut off to   
   station for safety,” the DWP said.   
      
   The agency said the plant “carries high-voltage electricity and   
   distributes it at lower voltages to customers in the surrounding   
   area.”   
      
   No injuries were immediately reported.   
      
   The cause of the blast at Receiving Station J was not clear. The   
   DWP said the fire was affecting only one part of the facility.   
      
   “LADWP apologizes for the inconvenience and appreciates   
   customers’ patience as we work to restore power as safely and   
   quickly as possible,” the agency said in a statement.   
      
   christopher.goffard@latimes.com | @LATChrisGoffard   
      
   ben.poston@latimes.com | @bposton   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-power-explosion-   
   20170708-story.html   
      
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