Balloons to blame for large Santa Rosa power outage

Helium-filled foil balloons struck power lines Tuesday evening in east Santa Rosa, bringing down the wires and knocking out power to more than 5,000 homes and businesses.

The balloons, typically known as Mylar balloons, flew into power lines and caused the blackout shortly after 6 p.m. in Rincon Valley along the 700 block of Benicia Drive, PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said.

Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Ken Sebastiani said power lines came down on Benicia and also blocked all four lanes of nearby Montecito Boulevard.

Of the 5,025 affected customers, all but 88 had their power restored by 6:46 p.m., Guidi said. Most who lost power were located between Brush Creek Road and Mission Boulevard, but some were as far south as Summerfield Road.