Malibu endures cellphone, power outages as Franklin fire burns
Cellphone service was proving a challenge in Malibu, where the Franklin fire was burning Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the fire burned some cell towers in the area, affecting service. It is unclear the scope of the outage, but people in the area reported trouble making calls.
There are also several power outages in the area of the fire Tuesday morning — some that were cut off for firefighter safety and some part of widespread public safety power shutoffs, planned electricity cuts to limit potential fire sparks from utility equipment, according to David Eisenhauer, a Southern California Edison spokesperson.
A wildfire broke out late Monday in Malibu, triggering evacuations as Santa Ana winds fanned the flames.
He didn’t have details on outages around the fire. Across the region, more than 40,000 customers had their electricity cut for those planned shutoffs due to high winds, about a quarter in Los Angeles County. Another 200,000 were being considered for a shutoff.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many such outages were among those in Malibu.
The blaze was moving at a fierce pace, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, and had exploded to over 2,850 acres as of Tuesday afternoon with no containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Officials had been bracing for intense Santa Ana winds, saying Monday that more than 350,000 customers from Kern to San Diego counties could lose power amid the planned safety shutoffs.
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