Venice residents concerned about 'exploding' power lines behind homes, LADWP responds
LOS ANGELES - Residents in one Venice neighborhood say power lines behind homes "keep exploding."
"It’s super scary," said Erik Pletcher. "It’s like someone is shooting sparks down from the sky.
The power lines are located behind homes on Indiana Avenue.
Surveillance and cellphone videos shared with FOX 11 show sparks lighting up the sky like fireworks. In one video, kids can be seen playing outside as the power lines start sparking.
"It’s terrifying," said Kate Pletcher. "My kids play in the backyard. At the moment they’re afraid to be back there without us."
Pletcher says the power lines have "exploded" three times and caused power outages for their neighborhood. They’re also very worried sparks could start a wildfire.
"My husband and I are out, clearing out any brush or dry debris every day just in case it happens again," said K. Pletcher. "Whenever someone flashes a light on or off [now], our whole family [thinks] the power is going out again. It’s like living on edge."
In one instance, sparks occurred the night before the deadly Palisades Fire. There, winds up to 100 miles per hour caused the deadly blaze to spread out of control across Pacific Palisades.

Power lines arcing behind a Venice home.
"Had that one event [behind our house] happened 24 hours later than it did, I mean right in the middle of the peak wind event, I think we would have had a major fire situation in Venice," said Erik Pletcher.
Other neighbors also expressed their concerns and frustrations about the situation with FOX 11. Not only about the possibility of fires, but that each instance has caused prolonged power outages.
"The last crew that came out here said that what needs to happen is, this one little stretch, 50 feet [of power lines], needs to be swapped out," said Kate Pletcher. "We thought they were going to do that but turns out they didn’t do that."
The Pletcher family has sent several emails to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) voicing their safety concerns. Workers from LADWP tell them, "Spreaders were installed to help with wire-spacing" and that they can call "24-hours a day to request assistance."
"For this to happen three times is unconscionable," said Erik Pletcher. "How does a utility company let that happen? Then, let it happen again. Then, let it happen again."
Shortly after FOX 11 reported the wires, LADWP sent a crew out to the home.
In a statement to FOX 11, LADWP said that crews had already repaired the arcing wires "by installing a spreader to keep the lines separated," and that crews would return later Saturday "to ensure the lines are safe."
Residents told FOX 11 that crews replaced the line Saturday evening.