July 30, 2009 12:04 PM
Residents of one Santa Barbara neighborhood are feeling burned over a problem with a Southern California Edison line they say fried a number of appliances.
The voltage disruption occurred at about 2 p.m. July 24, essentially destroying hair dryers, fans, microwave ovens, televisions, computers, refrigerators, washing machines and dryers in about a dozen homes in the 100 block of South Alisos Street.
Geoffrey Rowles was sleeping at the time, and awoke to the smell of smoke inside his 50-year-old house. Two TVs, an old computer and his microwave oven were billowing smoke, he told the News-Press.
Neighbor Allen Frick said he recalled a series of small power outages two weeks earlier. The "big one," he said, claimed three TV sets and a computer.
"Fire was coming out of two of the TVs," he said. The other fell victim to a surge protector that Mr. Frick said flamed up during the incident.
"The breakers didn't break," he said. "Why even have a thing like this if it's not going to help?"
Mr. Frick was the first to call Edison, at around 2:30 p.m. Several hours later, two technicians from Edison showed up to fix the problem.
According to Mr. Frick, one of the technicians claimed that the problem was caused by the grounding mechanism breaking, most likely because of constant salt water contact, which eroded the electrical components.
John Britton, an Edison spokesman, told the News-Press Wednesday that the problem was a "bad connector on the line which ended up causing odd voltages to customers in the area."
While this type of problem doesn't happen often, Mr. Britton said "a bad connector can occur, especially if close to the ocean."
It wasn't until technicians arrived the day of the incident that other neighbors came out to investigate for themselves. That's when they discovered they weren't alone.
"We each thought it was our own (house) problem," said Mr. Frick.
The technicians handed out business cards to the residents in case of inquiry.
Mr. Frick also said Edison instructed those who had damage to file a claim online, which allows eight items per claim, or put their claim in writing.
Reviews can take 10 days and another three for Edison officials to determine whether to accept liability for the damage.
According to Mr. Frick, Edison also requested receipts and invoices from the residents coinciding with the damaged items.
One resident claimed "most of these appliances are so old, we don't have those anymore."
German Cuevas lost four televisions and a brand-new washer and dryer.
Down the way, Debbie Perez returned home that day to find it reeking of smoke. After inspecting the house, she placed all the burnt appliances, including TVs and lamps, out on her lawn.
According to Edison's Mr. Britton, there were no complaints from residents as of Wednesday.
As for the connector that appeared to cause the problem in the first place, Mr. Britton said it was fixed.
If residents choose to file a claim, he added, the utility's claims department would evaluate the situation and react fairly quickly.
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