Widespread power outages were reported in Buellton and the Santa Ynez Valley Monday afternoon, initially affecting more than 13,000 customers, according to the PG&E outage map.
Firefighting crews were battling several vegetation fires in the area, which prompted highway closures and mandatory evacuations, but the cause of the outages was unknown as of Monday afternoon, according to PG&E.
The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management indicated the outages were caused by the fires, but did not offer specifics.
About 10,000 PG&E customers in the Buellton, Santa Ynez and Solvang areas were affected by the outages as of 5:30 p.m., spokesman Mark Mesesan said.
All power was reportedly restored by 10 p.m. Monday, according to the PG&E outage map.
Mesesan did not say whether the outages were related to the wildfires, but said the company had crews on site to coordinate with fire responders.
The outages were not due to any planned action by PG&E, such as a public safety power shutoff, he said.
Mesesan said Monday evening that PG&E crews were “working with responders to make the area safe, and then will restore power to affected customers.”
The PG&E infrastructure map shows transmission lines running along Highway 101, between Highway 154 and Highway 246, and southeast from Highway 101 toward the Santa Ynez Valley.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
Click here to view PG&E’s outage map.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
