Mylar balloon knocks out power to 1,800 PG&E customers in Northeast Santa Rosa

A metallic Mylar balloon is responsible for knocking out power to nearly 2,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co., customers for about an hour Sunday afternoon, during the hottest temperatures of the day.

The outage was first reported at 4:15 p.m. and affected parts of the north end of Santa Rosa’s College District, Chanate Road and a portion of the Fountaingrove neighborhood, according to PG&E’s outage map.

JD Guidi, a PG&E spokesman, said PG&E crews traced the problem to a Mylar balloon, which came into contact with power lines on Russell Avenue at Sutter Avenue.

The location is just north of the Sonoma County jail and just south of Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center.

Crews were able to restore power by 5:12 p.m., Guidi said.

The utility warns that metallic, Mylar balloons are a frequent cause of power failures, causing about 400 annual outages throughout the utility’s service area.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.