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Power surge disables businesses, homes

ELECTRICITY: About 100 homes, businesses sustained thousands of dollars in damages.

By TAMMY J. SCHOLL - Staff Writer

BARSTOW -- A massive power surge disabled one area business and caused thousands of dollars in damage at residences along Old Highway 58, west of Irwin Road.

Saturday morning, two power lines collided causing 42,000 volts of electricity to surge through about 100 homes and businesses between Waterman Road and the Highway 58 and Irwin Road intersection, Steve Hanson, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said.

Area residents said they heard a loud popping noise, saw light bulbs exploding and smelled something burning at 6:30 a.m.

"It jolted us. My husband is hard of hearing and the noise woke him up. We could smell wires burning," Waterman Road resident Lori Mobley said.

Ed Byers, owner of Byers Co., said the power surge caused a fire in his building. He was unable to determine Monday if the computer-operated machines used to manufacture precision instruments are badly damaged.

"I've been put out of business for now. It will probably take a couple of weeks for all the repairs," Byers said.

Byers said he contacted Edison, but the claims department was closed due to the Presidents Day holiday.

"Their emergency response system leaves something to be desired," he said.

Hanson said damage claims must be submitted to the company in writing and will be processed in a timely matter. The length of time it takes to process a claim varies from case to case, he said.

Pam Dickey, a secretary at City Towing, said the electrical accident did more than $500 worth of damage to office equipment not including a computer.

When she arrived at work Saturday, she saw smoke coming from the surge protector.

"We were pulling it out of the socket and saw it was all burnt up," she said.

In addition to office equipment, Dickey said several of her own electronic appliances were damaged.

Larry Brown, owner of B&B Plumbing, said the power surge caused between $2,000 and $3,000 in damage to his home and business.

"It blew up light bulbs, my cash register, anything that was plugged it. You don't have light bulbs blow across your kitchen table every day," he said.

Gay Sluder, of Steve's Audio and Video Repair, said she was swamped with calls about all the broken appliances.

"Because of the power surge, we got calls about 20 (television) units. It's never that busy," she said.

Copyright ) 1999 Desert Dispatch.

http://www.desertdispatch.com/topstory/dd022200a.html

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 22, 2000

Answers

what happens when this happens? i've always wondered if the electric company pays for/ replaces private homes damages when there are surges that destroy. laura

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), February 23, 2000.

Yikes! This is why we unplug whenever we think there's even a *remote* possibility of power fluctuations. Ounce of prevention worth far more than a pound of cure. The Stakes!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), February 23, 2000.

Good question laura. I hope somebody will give some input on this. We had 2 big power surges in our home 3 months ago.

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 23, 2000.