More than 2,000 West LA residents experience outage after balloons hit power lines

Almost 2,200 people living in West Los Angeles were without power for part of Saturday after power lines in their area were hit by metallic balloons, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. 

The outage was reported just after 1:10 p.m., at which point crews were sent to the Sawtelle and Westwood neighborhoods to try and restore their service, LADWP noted. 

"When metallic balloons, often called 'mylar' balloons, float into power lines, they can cause power outages," said a statement from LADWP. "Their conductive material creates a short circuit when touching the energized line, disrupting the electrical flow."

LADWP officials say that power was fully restored to both neighborhoods at around 7:15 p.m.