Mountain residents brace for possible public safety shut offs due to strong winds

CRESTLINE, Calif. (KABC) -- The red flag warning that will be in effect through Tuesday comes with the possibility that Southern California Edison could turn off power to decrease the fire danger, but the repeated public safety shut offs are beginning to take a toll on some mountain residents.

"We're the richest state in the nation, the fifth largest economy in the world, and we can't keep our power on," said Adam Blankenship, who has lived in the mountains for 22 years. He said he had never seen this many power shutoffs in just a matter of weeks.

"We've had 60 to 70 mph winds, I've had branches hit my car before, and never had the power gone out. It's happening all the time," Blankenship said. "When snowmageddon happened, we had 8 feet of snow, but people still had their power."

Frustration is building among mountain residents, with a red flag warning that could last for days.

"So you're cut off for three days with no phone, no electricity, candles, we're almost in the dark ages," said Paul Offenbacher.

He uses propane to keep his house warm, but he said many residents that rely on electricity don't have generators. That includes several businesses in the mountain community, like Higher Grounds Coffee.

"We've faced now four days that we've not been able to be open in the last couple weeks, so that really has negatively impacted our business," said Chad Lindsey.

At higher elevations, it can get dangerously cold.

"My house never gets over 60 degrees," said Offenbacher. "It can get down in the 20s [at night]."

If the power does get shut off again, residents hope it's for a good reason.

"We're trusting in their good judgement to know that they're preventing what has happened down in L.A., so the priority is safety," said Lindsey.

There were no reported outages as of Monday night in Crestline, but for some neighborhoods north of Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs, the power was shut off in the afternoon.

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