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UPDATE: Power Restored to 3,500 in Western Malibu

The outage was caused by trees that were downed due to high winds in the area, Southern California Edison reports.

More than 3,500 Southern California Edison customers lost power Saturday in an outage that lasted well into Sunday morning.

The outage began at 7:51 p.m. Saturday along Pacific Coast Highway between Bonsall Drive and Latigo Canyon Road when some trees, likely knocked over due to high winds, came in contact with power lines and caused shortages, according to Caroline Aoyagi of Edison.

Southern California Edison was investigating the cause of the outage. Crews worked to restore power late into the night. Edison estimated power would be restored by 9:30 p.m., but that was later pushed to 12:15 a.m. and then to 7 a.m. Sunday.

By 7:10 a.m. Sunday, only 255 remained without power, but electricity was restored to most by 8 a.m., according to Edison.

"We have restored power to everyone except 11 customers on Bonsall Drive,'' Aoyagi said.

Power was returned to those 11 customers by 1 p.m. Sunday.

Some residents reported seeing a transformer send sparks into the air before the outage began.

A woman named April who lives off Kanan Road said over Twitter that a generator brought to her by Point Dume Pools kept her koi fish alive overnight.

"They made it," April said in a Tweet.

-Malibu Patch Editor Jessica E. Davis contributed to this report.

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Cathey Cadieux November 11, 2012 at 09:30 am
So nice to be able to check patch from my iPhone to find out what is happening. Thank you Jessica
Steve Scheinkman November 11, 2012 at 11:43 am
Just got power back at 6:40
Mahalo November 11, 2012 at 11:45 am
Power Just came back on at Zuma. 6:40am
Christine Weis November 11, 2012 at 11:57 am
Thanks Jessica for the updates. We could check them on our cellphones. How thoughtful and kind of you:)
Jill Matthews November 11, 2012 at 12:01 pm
My cell phone service (Sprint) stopped working when the power went out. Did anyone else have this problem? Anyone know why?
Marshall Thompson November 11, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Hans: time to kick more Edison ass.
Marshall Thompson November 11, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Jill, I had solid sprint service the whole time.
Jessica E. Davis (Editor) November 11, 2012 at 12:05 pm
That is very interesting and I figured that that must have happened last night. I'll try to look into this on Monday, when the Sprint offices open.
sima conrad November 11, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Electricity just came on at 6:40a.m. I am north of Trancas Canyon!
Hans Laetz November 11, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Ryan, my Fios battery still had dialtone throughout the outage.
However, the battery began beeping 15 minutes before the power came back. How annoying, every minute a shrill set of beeps. Of course, the house is dark and the battery is behind a bookcase and there is no way to hunt for a reset button, if any. Grrrrr. Sprint voice and data service died with the power, but SMS messages would transmit and receive OK Remember that for the next disaster. Text messages will (sometimes) go through when nothing else will.
Jessica E. Davis (Editor) November 11, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Most have their power back on now. Only 255 are still without power, with restoration times ranging from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to Edison. Please feel free to share your experiences here in the comments or email me at malibu@patch.com.
sima conrad November 11, 2012 at 12:33 pm
I have verizon fios and verizon cellular. Nothing worked from the time I got home at 8:15p.m.
Malibu November 11, 2012 at 12:44 pm
yah mine was down too, I could get no data, barely a signal. Sprint is terrible. Edison is worse.
Jessica E. Davis (Editor) November 11, 2012 at 01:28 pm
All but 11 have power now, according to Edison.
Hans Laetz November 11, 2012 at 01:33 pm
Did people with Verizon FioS -LANDLINE- service lose their old fashioned dial tone?
Its very important -- as Verizon/FioS promises to provide dial tone on traditional landlines (cable or copper) for 4-6 hours of blackout. They make no promises for FioS cable service, or Verizon cellphones. I am very curious why Sprint cell service died with the power, at least at Trancas. It seemed to be working at MHS.
Hans Laetz November 11, 2012 at 01:39 pm
Did people with either Verizon FioS -LANDLINE- service, or Charter LANDLINE phone service, lose their old fashioned dial tone?
Its very important -- as Verizon/FioS and Charter promise to provide dial tone on traditional landlines (cable or copper) for 4-6 hours of blackout. They make no promises for FioS cable service, or Verizon cellphones, or Charter cable service, or VOIP stuff like Vonage or Googlevoice. I am very curious why Sprint cell service died with the power, at least at Trancas. It seemed to be working at MHS. Also strange that SMS worked, voice didn't and email notifications were being trasnmitted by Sprint,but not the emails themselves. The difference between wired and weird is scant.
Concerned November 11, 2012 at 01:42 pm
Hillview, off Latigo,correct? Very frightening to realize that "a transformer" in that area can obliterate the power for so many homes. I drove on PCH last night to get a feel for the extent of the black out (and find some cell service!!). It seemed to extend from Latigo north to county line? The scene was peaceful, lovely and all those romantic analogies... Back to facts : One transformer causing thousands to loose power for over 13 hours, really disturbs me
Carla Bowman-Smith November 11, 2012 at 02:22 pm
Sprint "service" stopped for us as well.
Scott Hosfeld November 11, 2012 at 04:46 pm
We lost our Verizon/FIOS phone as well...
John Martin November 11, 2012 at 04:54 pm
I'm pretty amazed and impressed that services work so well out in the boonies, away from any power station. Sure, it's a bummer the power went out, but isn't it cool how great it works most of the time? How many of us actually know where our good stuff comes from? Where did that power (that went out) come from? How about the water that comes out of our sink? Where did that come from? And through how many miles of pipe? And the gas for the stove? Hot water? We've come a long way, and really shouldn't take it all so much for granted. Just my thoughts. And I am genuinely sorry for anyone who was truly inconvenienced by the whole thing.
Hans Laetz November 11, 2012 at 05:31 pm
Oh dear,John,give me a shout some day when you have 20 minutes to hear about how rickety and old the power poles in the local mountains and canyons and beaches are.
Wanna see a picture of the power pole they dug out at Zuma last week? 30 percent of it was hollow, filled with termite poop. I don't know what happened at Bonsall. It looked like branches into wires. Those things happen. Some hardworking IBEW men and woman worked in wind and darkness all night to fix it. Don't take that for granted, like you say. But what I have learned about SC Edison company practices and policies will scare the bejeebers out of you.
Candace Brown November 11, 2012 at 09:57 pm
Thank you John Martin for your thoughtful insight.
And thanks Hans for your tireless research and selfless hard work.
nate November 11, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Power went out briefly and came back on again about 10-min. ago here next to Latigo. Nothing major. Now that the sun is going down I'm carrying my book light in my pocket whenever I climb the stairs though, lol.
nate November 11, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Solar Power is the only answer for the future: http://www.lastcallattheoasis.com/
Jessica E. Davis (Editor) November 11, 2012 at 10:22 pm
That's nerve wracking. Let's hope the power stays on tonight.
Susan Tellem November 11, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Lost electricity a few minutes ago again. My computer is not happy nor are the tortoises. SCE give us a break and fix those overloaded poles.
Kelly Higgins November 12, 2012 at 01:31 am
You need a generator or a solar powered battery and inverter system,or both, the Verizon Fios system will work 4 or 5 hours if the battery is strong in there little white box but you need a non powered phone to plug into there system, I find a UPS unit works great for powered phones and a router/ computer, U.P.S stands for uninterrupted power source, you can buy them at Costco get the big one !
Ann Tomkins November 13, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Interesting that the power stayed on in Latigo Canyon north of Hillview.
Gwen Lucoff November 13, 2012 at 02:35 pm
I want to know how come it took almost 12 hours to restore power in Malibu park.
It was a VERY cold saturday night, and with out heat in our house it was not fun. not to mention all the food in the refridgerators and freezers, luckily it didn't defrost to much, but I made sure no one opened them, Yes it's time to invest in a generator This power outage was a wake up call for future problems. one of the really wierd things was that the new lights on the school grounds had thier smaller lights on all night, the ones that are about half way down. I wonder why they stayed on? But I was very happy when the power came back on at 7:30am in malibu park.
Hans Laetz November 13, 2012 at 02:49 pm
The City of Malibu should formally ask Edison why the power went out. The National Weather Service says winds at the nearest station, Leo Carrillo, peaked at 21 mph gusts that hour. Those were not unusual winds, in fact, the were westerlies that are not that uncommon here.
Edison needs to explain how half the city could be blacked out for 12 hours by one point of failure, if that was the case. Was there a cascading series of events? A series of coincidental simultaneous events? As for the high school, those little lights are emergency evacuation lights, apparently required by fire codes. They will come on whenever Edison blacks out. And they do not count against the number of hours that the field lights get to be used for school purposes.
Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Max June 18, 2013 at 09:02 am
Firemen are my true heroes. Not once, but twice, have they saved my house over the years, as wellRead More as where I worked most of my career. We cannot thank them enough for their yeomen efforts and hard work. When they are on the lines, we always provide them with food and drink, which is the least that we can do. We also welcome them when they make their annual inspections of properties here to ensure that homeowners clear their brush. When I was in school, we were visited by Firemen, who handed out badges and booklets on fire safety. I was proud to wear my "Junior Fireman" badge back then, and feel the same today!
Don Schmitz June 19, 2013 at 02:51 pm
We truly are blessed with the best first responders a community could hope for. A nod also to theRead More excellent building and planning standards we have implimented over the last few decades. Homes are now required to have dual pane glass, stucco (or commensurate) siding, class A roofs, adequate access, significant water storage, and the essential 200 ft. brush clearance. The proof has been demonstrated, and the results are impressive.
Rainbow in Malibu 20112
Yvonne Carrison June 17, 2013 at 09:24 am
Luv the rainbow over our heavenly canyon, we are truly blessed to live here! Gratitude
Snookie Ravioli June 17, 2013 at 08:32 am
I doubt it matters much. The Malibu mayor is no more than the presiding officer of the councilRead More meetings. In a council-manager form of government, which Malibu has, the mayor has very little power--a good thing in Malibu considering its history. The mayor in Malibu is a ceremonial position and s/he has no more actual power than the other council members. The game of musical chairs is not a bad thing in the Malibu council. Consider the alternative!
Snookie Ravioli June 17, 2013 at 08:44 am
A follow-up to Tom Brady's idea of annelected mayor. That woukd require a change in the form ofRead More government in Malibu to a Mayor-Manager form. The Mayor-Manager form is best for larger cities. Most cities the size of Malibu have the Council-Manager form because experience shows it works best for small cities. Having an elected mayor with the power of an elected mayor could create more problems than it solves. It would completely change the political environent in Malibu, and not for the better. Having weak, rotating mayors serves Malibu well.
Dee Rivellino June 17, 2013 at 06:07 pm
How do I explain why we have such a turnover in Mayors.? Because in intelligent communities theRead More answer would sound very pathetic. ..Well, let me start from the beginning when no one on the first, second, third, fourth, etc. Councils could decide how long the Mayor should serve ..so some genius came up with rotation and actually that's ok because all the Mayor does anyway is pose for pictures with the current flock of so called Celebrities. This goes on the list of why Malibu is always so different from other normal town around us.(An article I wrote months ago in the Surfside news) The Council meets, accomplishes little, a new Mayor is selected and life goes on. ... Elected officials(that's a joke too since only less than 3,000 people ever show up to vote out of 13,000 residents).. You can't ask questions like why our Mayor moves like the waves of the Ocean when most of the people in Malibu have no clue whats going on behind those thick doors at City Hall....the ones NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Good for Burt, its only taken him 18 months to ask the hard questions.
Ted Vaill June 11, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Sounds like a great father, like his son. My father died in 1989, of cancer, but was a happy,Read More positive man to the end. My mother remarried nine years later, and remarked before she died at age 98 that she was blessed to be married to two wonderful men.
Max June 12, 2013 at 01:46 am
Dear Burt, A very toughing piece about your dear father. If only more fathers these days had theRead More values and character that your father had, this world would be a much better, more caring and loving place. I, too, had a father that was very giving and supportive of me. As both of my parents were holocaust survivors, my upbringing was greatly influenced by their horrific experiences in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany: losing 80% of our families, being in over a dozen different concentration camps and facing death and torture continuously. It’s amazing that they were able to lead “normal” lives upon immigrating to the US. Never finishing high school in Poland and not speaking a word of English, he attended night school (Fairfax High), worked during the days in the subcontractor business (he manufactured venetian blinds, screens and louver windows, all from scratch, decades before they were imported), became a citizen (as did my late Mom) and raised a family. They eked out a living (lower middle class), sent my younger brother and I to Hebrew school every day after public school classes, encouraged us to strive in school and somehow supported my hobby of being a radio amateur and my brother in violin studies. My parents always wanted me to become an electronics engineer (probably based on the dream my father had before WW2). Several of his proudest moments were when I got accepted into the physics grad schools of Princeton, Harvard, Caltech, Stanford and UCLA; when I received my PhD from Caltech; when I authored a cover feature article in Scientific American; and when I married my Beshert (soul mate). As a kid, I had a mild connection to you, Burt. I loved rulers, be they the fancy compact metallic ones that retracted by the push of a button, the ones that had a mechanical crank to reel in the ruler or the foldable wooden rulers (that I always associated with a magic trick), which I would use in school, the lab and measuring Ham radio antennas that I built as a kid. All this was influenced by my dear father, equipped with rulers of all kinds, which he used on a daily basis when precisely measuring windows and door frames, manufacturing venetian blinds, screen doors, etc. As a 5-year old, my father would take me to his 2-man shop and, as they worked, I would run around the place with various rulers and magnets in tow, measuring everything in sight and picking up nails and hardware. I guess the only difference between us is that you became a ruler and I became one who is ruled. Happy Father’s Day, Burt!
Sandra Peltola June 8, 2013 at 08:14 am
Time to support Vital Zuman Farm, 60 years of service to the community. If you have not been to theRead More farm, you must, before another season goes by! Get your nature on, see the crops growing, meet friends, eat good food, listen to music outdoors, view exceptional art; ALL AT VITAL ZUMAN FARM on Saturday June 22, 2013 from 12:00 noon till 6:00pm. More Info: 310-924-2210
Far Infrared Sauna w/LED Lights
Lisa Knickmeyer, L.Ac., DA June 7, 2013 at 01:05 pm
Endermologie is perfect for the summer! It increases fat cell metabolism, addresses trapped fat andRead More streamlines the body and treats fat resistant to diet and exercise.
Super Dume
Mizzy Pacheco June 7, 2013 at 05:37 pm
Thanks. Moon rise.
Ashley W. Lewis June 9, 2013 at 05:06 pm
Ashley Lewis Thanks for sharing the beautiful photo of the fabulous moon and rocks. Curious whatRead More kind of camera and lens was used?
Mizzy Pacheco June 9, 2013 at 08:29 pm
Thanks, that was taken with a canon 5d mark ii with the cannon f4 70-200mm set at about 125mm
Lois Livoti June 5, 2013 at 03:52 pm
Wow - how fantastic to see Jim Palmer's Malibu Vineyards on the map for world class wine making.Read More Also I want to congratulate you on your recent "Best of Class" award and 95 point rating from the Los Angeles International wine competition for your 2010 Malibu Vineyards Estate Syrah. Well done!!!!
kim devane June 6, 2013 at 10:15 am
Well done Jim! You are putting Malibu on the map for world class wine. Congratulations! kim &Read More larry
This sycamore tree on Trancas Canyon Road was six inches -- and five votes -- away from getting ground up to make way for four more unsafe, angle parking places on Trancas Canyon Rd. Now, can we get rid of the numbskull loading zone at PCH's corner?
J. Flo June 4, 2013 at 02:11 pm
I found the meeting, the speakers and the Planning Commission to be very impressive. Well-thoughtRead More out, intelligent.
Hans Laetz June 4, 2013 at 07:33 pm
So interesting to hear the applicant's lawyer explain that the billboard was appropriate becauseRead More "this is a commercial area." Oh, dear dear dear. That sort of explains the whole problem.
Proud Elitist June 10, 2013 at 06:54 am
First the Paige Sports Arena sign at Univ Missouri Columbia comes down. Next Trancas sign comesRead More down. Girl, you got some bad luck with signs.