Mylar balloon strikes pole, causes West Hollywood power outage

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A Mylar balloon struck a power pole and caused a possible transformer explosion that led to a massive power outage in West Hollywood Thursday night.

The incident happened shortly after 8:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Sweetzer Avenue, near Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.

It was believed the balloon struck a power pole, and live wires were down in the area.

Southern California Edison reported that about 500 customers were impacted in the outage. By 10:30 p.m., the outage was down to only four customers.

One man said he heard an explosion inside his bedroom so loud, it scared all of the people in his apartment.

"Like a big light, fire, like a blow-up, boom!," described Dimitri Scourkes. "Everybody came out because they didn't know what it was. They thought it was a bomb."

No injuries were reported as crews worked to fully restore power.