A densely-populated neighborhood in the Westlake District was in the dark and without power Monday night after numerous electrical lines fell to the ground from power poles.
Officials estimated the power outage could last most of the night.
That didn’t bode well for local residents on a cold winter night, as temperatures were expected by forecasters to dip into the 40s overnight and anyone with electrical heat will be cold and out of luck.
Electrical wires failed near MacArthur Park at evening rush hour, and the fallen lines blocked a major traffic artery.
City firefighters said lines were down across Alvarado Street at Maryland Street. The city Department of Transportation was called to send traffic control officers to divert northbound traffic off Alvarado at Sixth Street, and southbound Alvarado at Third Street.
Department of Water and Power spokesman Albert Rodriguez said about 1,146 customers lost power at about 5:32 p.m.
The power was observed to be out in the densely populated city block west of Alvarado, between MacArthur Park and St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
A DWP emergency repair crew was dispatched and the electricity would be out for 10 hours “or probably much less than that,” Rodriguez told City News Service.
–City News Service