June 26, 2002
ROSEMEAD, Calif., June 26, 2002-A brush fire ignited by a burning automobile on Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass caused three major Southern California Edison transmission lines to automatically shut down today, temporarily interrupting power delivery shortly after 6 p.m. to almost a half million utility customers.
Electric service was restored to most customers by 7 p.m. by rerouting power from other areas. The balance of customers will have their power restored throughout the night.
Cities affected included many of the foothill communities from San Dimas to Redlands as well as areas as far south as Fullerton and Santa Ana.
The transmission lines, apparently, were not damaged and will be reenergized as soon as utility officials determine they can safely transport electricity. At this time, SCE does not anticipate that the interruption in transmission capacity will affect service tomorrow.
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An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 11 million via 4.3 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California. For more information on the California electricity market, see www.sce.com.
