More than 140,000 residents were left without power after a blaze at a power plant in Los Angeles.

Power had to be cut to allow firefighters to battle the fire at the Los Angeles department of water and power plant in North San Fernando Valley.

More than 80 firefighters fought the fire which broke out in a storage vault containing 50,000-60,000 gallons of mineral oil.

Local people reported the sound of an explosion but this has not been confirmed.

Much of the blaze on Saturday was out within two hours but firefighters were expected to stay at the scene to monitor possible flare-ups.

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Drivers in the area were advised to take extra care as many roads would be without lights due to the power outage.

Image: More than 80 firefighters fought the blaze

Officials were not able to say when power might be restored at the plant which serves 1.6 million customers in Los Angeles.

An employee said work was going on around the clock to restore power. He said: "It's got to be done. People are without power."

In a statement, the plant said: "The fire affected one portion of the receiving station, but as an emergency precautionary measure, power to and from the facility has been shut off while Los Angeles fire department personnel work to put the fire out.

Image: Firefighters battle the blaze

"As soon as possible, crews will assess damage at the station and begin the work of restoring power to affected customers."

The incident happened as Los Angeles recorded a second day of record high temperatures that exceeded 90F (32C).</s>Power was restored Sunday to the remaining 94,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in the San Fernando Valley who lost their electricity after an explosion crippled an electrical receiving station in Northridge.

Power was fully returned to residents and businesses about 8:45 a.m., according to DWP spokesman Michael Ventre. The DWP is telling customers in the Valley to check their circuit breakers if they still don’t have power.

An explosion at the utility’s Northridge plant Saturday evening caused a fire that burned for hours, knocking out traffic lights, stranding people in elevators and leaving huge swaths of the Valley without power, officials said.

The outages hit businesses and residents in Northridge, Winnetka, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Tarzana, North Hills, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, West Hills, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, DWP officials said.

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Power was out for 13 hours at Pacifica Senior Living, an assisted senior living facility in Northridge. Staffers handed out wet towels and water and a generator kept emergency lights running in the hallways but residents’ rooms remained dark, without air conditioning.

“It was a bit rough,” said Cristina Gutierrez, the facility’s executive director. She sent staffers to Target on Saturday night to buy lanterns so residents could have light in their rooms shortly after the power went out at 7 p.m. Residents also gathered in the main entrance hall to keep cool.

Gutierrez said she’s frustrated with the DWP because she wasn’t able to get updates on when power would be restored. She said she called the utility, but that she wasn’t given an answer on whether it would be hours or days before the power came back on.

Power was eventually restored about 8 Sunday morning, she said.

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Porter Ranch resident Pat Pope was at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday night, attending the “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” concert when he started getting texts from friends about the power outage.

When Pope got home at 11:30 p.m., it was 86 degrees, he said. Power was out all night, Pope said, adding that he didn’t get much sleep because of the heat. He said he could hear the sound of his neighbors’ generators running.

At church on Sunday, he said he heard a lot of grumbling about the lack of power and the heat.

“It was just a nasty night for a lot of people in the Valley,” Pope said. He said his power was restored shortly after 6 a.m.

Initially, officials said, 140,000 customers lost power. As of 11 p.m. Saturday, 94,000 were still without power. Officials said the blast caused major damage at the facility and that repairs were continuing through the morning.

Residents of an apartment complex near the DWP plant on Parthenia Street in Northridge reported hearing an explosion at the plant just before 7 p.m., and firefighters arrived to find a gigantic container of mineral oil – used as a cooling agent for electrical equipment – on fire, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Humphrey said firefighters had controlled the blaze by 8:30 p.m. and were able to extinguish the flames by 9 p.m. “These were fierce flames, with smoke towering more than 300 feet into the sky,” Humphrey said.

No one was injured. He said mechanical failure related to cooling equipment might have caused the explosion, though the investigation was still young.

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Humphrey said firefighters rescued dozens of people who were stranded in elevators. He urged people to limit travel through areas where traffic lights were down, and to use battery-powered lanterns and flashlights rather than candles.

Power was shut off at the DWP plant to allow firefighters to fight the blaze.

The loss of power came at the peak of a heat wave that pushed temperatures to 100 degrees in many parts of the Valley. As of 9 p.m., the temperature in Woodland Hills was 84 degrees. Highs should reach into the 90s Sunday.

“Initial reports of fire affecting a major part of Receiving station involving 230 Kilovolt equipment. All power cut off to station for safety,” the DWP said.

The agency said the plant “carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages to customers in the surrounding area.”

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No injuries were immediately reported.

The cause of the blast at Receiving Station J was not clear. The DWP said the fire was affecting only one part of the facility.

“LADWP apologizes for the inconvenience and appreciates customers’ patience as we work to restore power as safely and quickly as possible,” the agency said in a statement.

Massive power outage in the Valley. Remember folks, no lights means it becomes a 4-way stop. pic.twitter.com/MI5EqQaYQY — Gigi Graciette (@GigiGraciette) July 9, 2017

christopher.goffard@latimes.com | @LATChrisGoffard

ben.poston@latimes.com | @bposton

UPDATES:

12:15 p.m.: Updated with more comments from people affected by the power outage.

12:05 p.m.: Updated with new information about people affected by the power outage.

9:13 a.m.: Updated with new information from DWP about power being restored.

7:45 a.m.: Updated with statement on power restoration.

6:30 a.m., July 9: Updated with new power restoration estimate.

1:30 p.m.: Updated with cooling centers.

11:15 p.m.: Updated with new power outage numbers.

9:35 p.m.: This article was updated with new information from fire officials.

9:05 p.m.: This article was updated with weather conditions.

9:00 p.m.: This article was updated with power outage numbers.

8:40 p.m.: This article was updated with more photos and details.

This article was originally posted at 8:40 p.m., Saturday, July 8.</s>LOS ANGELES (AP) - Electricity was restored Sunday to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The LA Department of Water and Power said repairs continue but the outage ended by mid-morning.

Crews worked through the night to fix conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire's cause is under investigation.

The Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles at twilight is blacked out, the only light coming from a laptop computer screen in a home, foreground, and from a few others with backup power, as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said about 140,000 people are without electricity after the agency shut down a power station in the northeast San Fernando Valley that caught fire Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centers were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages, the department said.

The department shut off power to the station as a precautionary move, and began restoring service once the flames were out.

The outage came as much of California baked in heat that broke records. A record that stood 131 years in Los Angeles was snapped when the temperature spiked at 98 degrees downtown.

Shortly after the blaze broke out, crews found a huge container of mineral oil that is used to cool electrical equipment on fire, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

"These were fierce flames, with smoke towering more than 300 feet into the sky," he told the Los Angeles Times.

No one was injured.

Firefighters rescued people who were stranded in elevators, Humphrey said.</s>LOS ANGELES — Electricity was restored Sunday to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The LA Department of Water and Power said repairs continue but the outage ended by mid-morning.

Crews worked through the night to fix conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire’s cause is under investigation.

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centres were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages, the department said.

The department shut off power to the station as a precautionary move, and began restoring service once the flames were out.

The outage came as much of California baked in heat that broke records. A record that stood 131 years in Los Angeles was snapped when the temperature spiked at 98 degrees downtown.

Shortly after the blaze broke out, crews found a huge container of mineral oil that is used to cool electrical equipment on fire, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

“These were fierce flames, with smoke towering more than 300 feet into the sky,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

No one was injured.

Firefighters rescued people who were stranded in elevators, Humphrey said.</s>At least 140,000 people were left without power at one point in the San Fernando Valley after an explosion and fire at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility in Northridge.The explosion was reported around 6:53 p.m. Saturday in the 18900 block of Parthenia Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. It was reported in a high voltage electrical equipment area of the facility.Viewers on social media reported outages in Porter Ranch, Winnetka, West Hills, Canoga Park, Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, North Hills, Reseda and Chatsworth. Many people also saw the large black plumes of smoke billowing from the facility.At least 140,000 customers were without power in Northridge, Winnetka, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Tarzana, North Hills, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, West Hills, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, according to LADWP around 7 p.m.By 10 p.m., at least 50,000 customers received electricity again, while crews worked to restore power to the the remaining 94,000 customers. There was no estimation on a full restoration.Los Angeles firefighters also rescued several people from elevators when the power went out, but it was unclear how many people.In many areas of the Valley, lights were out at intersections, businesses and homes."All of the sudden there was no power, which was always fun. But you figure it's a hot day, everybody has their air on. It's when I keep hearing the sirens, and then you look outside and there is smoke and then there's a lot of smoke. That's when you're like, 'Ok, something bad happened,'" Northridge resident Joyclyn Dunham said.Customers in the affected areas said their night was uncomfortable because they are without any air conditioning as temperatures still hovered in the 90s.Firefighters could not pour water on the fire because it was burning in 60,000 gallons of mineral oil, which is used in the cooling process at the center.LADWP responded to the incident on Twitter, saying power had been cut off to the facility as a safety precaution and that it served the northerm portion of the San Fernando Valley.The facility, called Receiving Station J (RS-J) is part of an energy transmission system, according to the LADWP. The utility said the extent of the damage from the fire and explosion has yet to be assessed.There were no injuries to any LADWP workers or firefighters at the scene.The cause of the explosion was unknown, but temperatures were in the triple digits across the Valley.</s>At least 140,000 people were left without power in the San Fernando Valley after an explosion and fire at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility in Northridge.The explosion was reported around 6:53 p.m. Saturday in the 18900 block of Parthenia Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. It was reported in a high voltage electrical equipment area of the facility.Viewers on social media reported outages in Porter Ranch, Winnetka, West Hills, Canoga Park, Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, North Hills, Reseda and Chatsworth.At least 140,000 customers were without power in Northridge, Winnetka, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Tarzana, North Hills, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, West Hills, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills, according to LADWP.LADWP responded to the incident on Twitter, saying power had been cut off to the facility as a safety precaution and that it served the northerm portion of the San Fernando Valley.The facility, called Receiving Station J (RS-J) is part of an energy transmission system, according to the LADWP. The utility said the extent of the damage from the fire and explosion has yet to be assessed.Parthenia Street was closed in both directions between Vanalden and Yolanda avenues.The cause of the explosion was unknown, but temperatures were in the triple digits across the Valley.</s>LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on a power outage in Los Angeles (all times local):

Electricity has been restored to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles at twilight is blacked out, the only light coming from a laptop computer screen in a home, foreground, and from a few others with backup power, as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said about 140,000 people are without electricity after the agency shut down a power station in the northeast San Fernando Valley that caught fire Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

The LA Department of Water and Power said Sunday morning that repairs continue but the outage has ended.

Crews worked through the night to fix conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire's cause is under investigation.

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centers were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The department says the fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages.

No one was injured.

Electricity is slowly being restored to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The LA Department of Water and Power says it hopes to restore electricity to all customers by late Sunday morning.

Crews worked through the night to repair conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire's cause is under investigation.

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centers were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The department says the fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages.

No one was injured.</s>LOS ANGELES — Electricity is slowly being restored to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The LA Department of Water and Power says it hopes to restore electricity to all customers by late Sunday morning.

Crews worked through the night to repair conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire’s cause is under investigation.

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centres were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The department says the fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages.

No one was injured.</s>LOS ANGELES — The Latest on a power outage in Los Angeles (all times local):

Electricity has been restored to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The LA Department of Water and Power said Sunday morning that repairs continue but the outage has ended.

Crews worked through the night to fix conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire’s cause is under investigation.

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centres were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The department says the fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages.

No one was injured.

Electricity is slowly being restored to tens of thousands of customers who lost service when a power station in suburban Los Angeles caught fire amid a blistering heat wave.

The LA Department of Water and Power says it hopes to restore electricity to all customers by late Sunday morning.

Crews worked through the night to repair conductors, circuit breakers and transformers damaged in the blaze. The fire’s cause is under investigation.

At its height, the outage Saturday evening affected 140,000 customers in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Cooling centres were opened for residents left without air conditioning.

The department says the fire at the station in the Northridge/Reseda area involved equipment that carries high-voltage electricity and distributes it at lower voltages.

No one was injured.</s>(Reuters) - A fire at a receiving station in Los Angeles left 140,000 residents without power on Saturday after a second straight day marked by temperatures that exceeded 90 degrees (32 Celsius), power authorities said.

Crews were on site assisting fire department operations and assessing damage at the scene of the fire at Receiving Station J, in the North San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said in a statement.

Some 140,000 residential and commercial customers were left without power which was cut off at the station to allow crews to work on putting the fire out, the department said.

Thee was no word on when power might be restored, which would occur once the fire is out and the system is stabilized, said LADWP, which provides power to 1.6 million customers in the city of Los Angeles.
An explosion at a Northridge power plant causes a widespread power outage in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles.