Balloon Causes San Francisco Power Outage That Affected 9,000 People In Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach Neighborhoods

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A helium balloon is to blame for thousands of residents and businesses losing power in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach neighborhoods Monday afternoon, according to PG&E.

The outage was first reported at 3:50 p.m., PG&E officials said.

Initial reports indicated that roughly 9,000 people lost power in the area. PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson later clarified that just 7,600 customers had been affected.

As of about 6:20 p.m., power had been restored to all customers, according to Swanson.

The outage was caused by a mylar balloon that came into contact with overhead power lines near the corner of Filbert and Leavenworth streets, according to PG&E.

Utility officials have asked anyone celebrating with helium-filled metallic balloons to make sure they're tied to weights to prevent them from floating away.

© Copyright 2015 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.