Greenfield outages caused by downed wire hit by mylar balloon

GREENFIELD, Calif. (KION-TV) UPDATE MAY 17, 2022, at 4:31 p.m.-- PG&E said the cause of a downed powerline Monday afternoon near the intersection of San Antonio and Oak was a mylar balloon.

PG&E added that the ballon hit the powerline at around 7:36 p.m. and caused an outage that took out power from 2,400 customers.

This incident is a great reminder to never release Mylar balloons outdoors because they are metallic and conduct electricity, resulting in surges and shorts that have the ability to knock out power.

Every year, especially during graduation season, hundreds of metallic balloons make contact with electric equipment and cause outages because they are not handled properly.

PG&E

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ORIGINAL STORY

Work is expected to wrap up overnight on a downed power line that had live wires making contact with the street.

The downed wire was reported late Monday afternoon and according to PG&E, power is expected to be restored by 2:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.

It was located near the intersection of San Antonio and Oak, according to Greenfield Police.

Greenfield Police shared video of the downed wire and you can see it sparking up some of the grass along the sidewalk.