PG&E warns people of risk that metallic balloons have on power lines

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV)- Many people will be visiting the stores to get their last minute Valentine's Day gifts.

PG&E says one of those gifts which is metallic balloons is a significant risk to power lines.

Metallic balloons can conduct electricity and if they float away into power lines then it could cause an outage for the entire neighborhood.

There could also be significant property damage or serious injury per PG&E.

PG&E says there were multiple cities on the Central Coast that saw metallic balloons cause outages.

Salinas saw four outages that impacted 8,700 customers and Greenfield saw four outages as well but that only impacted 300 customers.

The City of Watsonville came in third with three outages that impacted 400 customers.

PG&E is reminding customers to make sure helium-filled metallic balloons are securely tied to a weight that is heavy enough to prevent them from floating away and keep metallic balloons indoors