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About 240 LADWP customers are without power this extremely hot afternoon after a transformer apparently overheated and caught fire. At 3:36 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to Fulton Avenue and Valleyheart Drive (map) at the border of Sherman Oaks and Studio City, and just south of the Los Angeles River, to find a power pole aflame, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky. One witness said he could see it as he drove down Coldwater Canyon from Mulholland Drive.
The fire was quickly knocked down, but a LADWP spokesperson could not say when the power would be back on. One employee on scene, however, said power could be restored within five hours. There were no reports of injuries or damage to nearby buildings. A few trees also caught on fire.
Special thanks to Al Taddeo of Martini in the Morning for the fire photos!