Snapped electrical poles/lines may have contributed to the Palisades fire. This was taken on the Via de las Olas bluffs.
(A reader sent this letter to Councilmember Traci Park and has given permission for CTN to reprint it.)
As you may be aware, the Palisades, plus Santa Monica Canyon and Rustic Canyon suffered ANOTHER power outage last night. Our power went out about 9:30 p.m. and just came back today at noon. I don’t know if the Canyon’s electricity is back on yet.
When I spoke to the crew this morning at Toyopa and Borgos Place, they said something blew last night and there was a FIRE! The thing that blew, they told me, was not old. They were working on fixing that (or jury rigging something to get us power).
BUT they said it was something else that CAUSED that equipment to blow. And, as for the cause, they had no clue what or where it was. If they don’t find and fix that, it could happen again (and again and again).
As you know, there was another power outage just a week ago. That one lasted a similar time.
This is unacceptable. The DWP can’t be trusted with our water (witness the reservoir fiasco), and they can’t be trusted with our power grid either. How can anyone possibly have any faith that DWP can provide safe and secure power to all of the Palisades that burned up?
When we hear about the enormous salaries that DWP execs are getting, and their inattention – for years – to maintaining our infrastructure – then it seems to me it is high time for a full investigation and public hearings to get to the root of the problem. It seems like mismanagement at the highest level: plenty of money for sky high salaries, and no money (or wherewithal or care) to maintain infrastructure.
It’s up to the City Council and Mayor to get to the bottom of this. Please act! We can’t continue on this path.
A reader