Power Outage Sends 400 Homes Into Darkness

SANTA CLARITA — A faulty lightning arrester on a power pole was blamed Tuesday for a 90-minute power outage that bleeped a filming crew and residents of more than 400 homes in Sand Canyon into darkness during the dinner hour Monday.

The power outage at 7:08 p.m. pitched the entire canyon, normally lit by festive holiday lights, into total blackness until power was restored at 8:45 p.m. All homes in the canyon south of the Antelope Valley Freeway were affected, said Millie Paul, media relations representative for the Southern California Edison Co.

A film crew working at a ranch in the 25900 block of Sand Canyon Road wrapped up production early for a segment of the television series “Harts of the West” when the lights went out on stars Beau Bridges, Jane Harley Kozak and about 60 members of a crew finishing an episode due to air Jan. 22.

“It was nothing exciting really,” said Ann Dunsford, production coordinator for Acme Productions Inc. of Los Angeles. “We just fumbled around in the darkness for flashlights, then decided to go home.”

Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), a longtime Sand Canyon resident, was hosting his annual staff Christmas party at the time of the outage--but at Tony Roma’s restaurant in Valencia.