Continuing blackouts cause nuisances

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- Rolling blackouts Tuesday morning caused two traffic

accidents near Fairview Road, authorities said.

There were, however, no serious injuries in either accident.

The blackouts that lasted roughly between 10:30 a.m and 12:30 p.m. in

several areas off Fairview Road and near South Coast Plaza also shut off

traffic lights in some major intersections.

Both accidents were caused by drivers who drove through dead lights,

said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney.

The first crash, which occurred on Fairview near the San Diego Freeway

bridge at about 11:30 a.m., “resulted in moderate injuries to one of the

drivers and possibly a passenger,” he said.

The other occurred at the intersection of Fairview and South Coast

Drive, where a vehicle crossing South Coast Drive was struck by a car

traveling on Fairview. One person suffered minor injuries in that crash,

Birney said.

On Monday, two people were rescued from an elevator in The Lakes

apartment complex on Avenue of the Arts when it became stuck during a

6:30 p.m. blackout, officials said.

“We made contact with the building maintenance” staff, said Barbara

Marcosa, spokeswoman for the Costa Mesa Fire Department. “The people in

the elevator were told how to activate the door-opening mechanism and

were able to get out.”

Newport Beach was spared Tuesday, but the morning was a busy time at

the Costa Mesa Police Department. Officers there were dispatched on short

notice to affected areas as the blackouts were announced.

“We barely get five minutes notice,” said Lt. Ron Smith, who was

juggling calls as watch commander Tuesday morning. “We’re pretty much in

the dark here till something actually happens.”

The goal Tuesday was to get at least two officers to each major

intersection where lights failed, he said.

“It’s pretty labor intensive for us to do this,” he said. “The minute

we know a blackout hits, we flood that area with officers.”

But if the situation persists and spreads over a large area, drivers

are on their own, Smith said.

“When lights don’t work, they have to pretend it’s a four-way stop

sign,” he said.

Local schools were not hit Tuesday, but officials at many said they

were prepared for the eventuality.

Newport-Mesa Unified schools have been asked to check elevators and

save work done on computers, said Mike Fine, the district’s assistant

superintendent of business services. In case of a blackout, students will

remain in the schools, he said.

“It’s just a matter of one hour,” Fine said. “We believe we can

accommodate that.”

Orange Coast College shut off its computer servers for the day,

spokesman Jim Carnett said.

“A sudden power surge could wreak havoc on our servers, and we

couldn’t take that chance,” he said. “We’re just trying to hang in there

and see what the next step might be.”