Fontana Neighborhood Cleans Up From Weekend Windstorm
FONTANA (CBSLA.com) — The cleanup for a Fontana neighborhood where winds sending trees toppling into power lines, leaving more than a thousand people without power all day Saturday, was in full swing on Sunday afternoon.
Neighbors pitched in to help clear what was left of a huge eucalyptus tree that fell too close to home for Mario Heredia
"I mean that tree could have fell right on the house and it just missed us, by like maybe an inch," Heredia told CBS2's Adrianna Weingold.
He said he was getting ready for work early Saturday morning when he heard the wind howling outside.
"It sounded like a tornado," said Heredia, who moments later saw a huge flash and heard an enormous crash.
That's when the eucalyptus tree fell down, taking power lines with it, causing the transformer to explode. Southern California Edison crews worked through the night to get the power back up and running.
"It's been hectic, it's been really hectic, because no power," said Adrien Mesa, whose home is the last on the block without electricity. "Edison has been really nice, they gave us water and ice and everything."
Mesa said it's frustrating, but they're fortunate no one was hurt. He also said no one's car was damaged despite having multiple power lines fall down on top of them.
"What happened at our house, it pulled the wires out of the wall so we have no power yet," Mesa said.
There was another power outage that started at 10 a.m. Sunday in San Bernardino, near the 15-215 Freeway split. Slightly more than 600 customers were affected by the outage, and Edison crews were still working to restore power late Sunday afternoon.