Power line sparks fire near Redondo Beach substation
A power line snapped and set a pole afire early Saturday morning on Knob Hill.
A line above Southern California Edison’s Topaz substation caught fire early Saturday morning, causing a power outage and closing down streets near the intersection for several hours.
According to witnesses in the neighborhood, the high voltage lines leading into the substation near the intersection of Knob Hill and Prospect Avenue began making loud hissing noises in the early morning hours. The Redondo Beach Police Department received calls and just as an officer responded, at roughly 4 a.m., one of the lines snapped, and as it flew from its holster made contact with the wooden pole, catching fire.
“It looked like a tension wire just snapped,” said RBPD Capt. Alan Beck. “It just snapped over time, and it looked like that went over a live wire somehow – on the pole next to the substation on the southeast corner of Knob Hill and Prospect.”
The Redondo Beach Fire Department responded to the fire, which was contained to the pole and did not spread to the substation below. Southern California Edison (SCE) technicians were also on the scene, and rerouted power through surrounding facilities. More than 2,000 residents were without power in the area throughout most of Saturday morning, according to police.
One neighborhood resident, who spoke anonymously, said that fire personnel had to work very cautiously with the live wire.
“I thought it was really interesting – it was on fire, and they were standing like 200 feet from it. They could feel the energy and the heat being that far away. That’s crazy….I don’t think anyone realizes how serious this could have been if that wire had fallen into the substation. It was a big power line, one of the high voltage ones – god, it makes me nervous just thinking about it.”
The SCE facility, called the Topaz Substation, has been a center of controversy in the neighborhood in recent years. Three lawsuits have been filed, with a total of more than 60 nearby residents arguing that the substation has created adverse health impacts in the neighborhood. Three families have moved out of the homes nearest the substation, and one of those families, Simona Wilson and her children, has already prevailed in court. A jury awarded Wilson, who suffered low-grade electrocution from stray voltage emanating from the substation, $4 million in damages last March.
Power outages have been endemic in the South Bay this summer. Outages occurred repeatedly in the downtown areas in both Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, leading local politicians to seek legislative remedies. In June, there was an explosion in South Redondo Beach when a 14,000 volt power line blew.
SCE did not respond to a request for comment.