Power outage affects thousands in Apple Valley

As the temperature neared 100 degrees, thousands of Apple Valley residents were without power for nearly 18 hours on Labor Day.

A Southern California Edison official said nearly 6,900 utility customers experienced power outages in some portions of the town.

Power company spokesman Jim Hanggi told the Daily Press the power outage began at 2:21 a.m. Monday, with the cause being “equipment failure.”

As SCE crews began repairs, power was restored to some customers. By 5 p.m., about 2,100 customers were still without power, Hanggi stated

“We’re looking at about 10:30 pm. for full restoration,” said Hangii.

Power outage areas were mainly north of Highway 18, with many residents reporting no power between Corwin Road and Hwy. 18, as well as Apple Valley Road to near Joshua Road.

Residents told the Daily Press they endured the power outage with no air conditioning and with the fear of losing refrigerated food to spoilage.

"Edison people said power would be restored by 4 p.m., but it's 5:30 p.m. and still nothing," Darcie Helton told the Daily Press. "I took all of my refrigerated food to my daughter's house in Hesperia."

Many smaller stores in the Apple Valley Commons shopping center, the home of Super Target, were closed because of the power outage.

Some of the businesses that closed included Retro Bowl, Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery and Wingstop.

The Juice It Team posted a sign on the front door that read, “Due to the power outage we are closed today. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Several customers were seen entering the Los Alazanes Mexican Food restaurant, which remained open despite, according to employees, having no power or a backup system.

On the south side of Hwy. 18, Walmart experienced sporadic power outages throughout the day. At one point, customers were asked to exit the store, employees said.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Power outage affects thousands in Apple Valley