Power Outage Darkens Part of City

Updated at 11:46 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9: Manhattan Beach Police say Southern California Edison has told them power won't be completely restored to affected areas until the a.m. 

SCE Power Outage Center on website lists 12: a.m. Thursday, May 10 as expected completion time as of 11:03 p.m. Wednesday, May 9. "We have identified the problem and are working to restore your service." reads a post. About 3,159 customers are affected.

A pole at 35th Street and Blanche Avenue in the Tree Section caught fire Wednesday around 9:13 p.m., resulting in a power outage in the area, according to police scanner reports and tweets by some in the area.

Power appeared to be gone from El Porto and on Rosecrans Avenue from Highland Avenue to Sepulveda Boulevard.

A resident in Manhattan Village said their lights kept flickering but they never lost power.

Via a tweet, one local reported repair crews were on scene at 9:43 p.m.; another tweeted power was back on by 9:44 p.m. at their residence.

However, as of 10:30 p.m., much of the homes and businesses darkened by the initial incident remained without power.

According to scanner reports, the pole fire extinguished itself and was not a threat.

Area residents reported seeing a "power line fire on 36th (Street)" and that "it flickered like those strobe fireworks. Then fire..." Another tweeted, "Transformer blew... and lit up the entire sky like lightning."

One resident tweeted: "Black out in El Porto, just made a regular Strand walk so much more fantastic!"

When asked why: "lights flickered, sky turned blue & then dark."

Then another tweet from the same resident: "& in typical El Porto mode the neighbors came out to stare at the dark & talk. It's always great!"

Did you lose power, too? What did you see and experience? Were you prepared to deal with the darkness?