Residents in the Riviera neighborhood in the hills overlooking Santa Barbara were temporarily vacated from their homes on Friday, February 13, for a rare installation of electrical upgrades by way of helicopter.
The helicopter operations were necessary to bring in five fire-resistant utility poles and cover conductor cables to mitigate risk of sparks and wildfires in the area, according to David Eisenhauer, a communications advisor with Southern California Edison (SCE). The upgrades caused temporary outages for 21 SCE customers, and required 61 residential addresses to evacuate their homes during active helicopter operations.
SCE has conducted helicopter-based operations for electrical maintenance on construction since 1959. It requires a highly skilled and trained team that can safely bring the electrical equipment into areas that are especially difficult to maneuver. In the Riviera neighborhood of Santa Barbara, the narrow and curvy roads pose a challenge for bringing in large equipment such as power poles.
“The reason we’re doing it here in the hills of Santa Barbara is because it’s really difficult, if not impossible, to get the equipment and the cranes we need in there,” Eisenhauer said.
SCE has its own fleet of aerial support equipment, including helicopters and drones that can help with scouting locations, transporting crews to hard-to-reach areas, and performing upgrades that require technicians to work while hanging from above on ropes.
The upgrades in Santa Barbara were completed using two contracted helicopters, which took off from and refueled at the Santa Barbara Airport. The five utility poles promote fire safety and reliability, while the new cover conductors are coated with an additional material that “significantly reduces the risk of a spark” over the bare-wire cables, Eisenhauer said.
City officials worked with SCE to inform the residents near Alameda Padre Serra of the evacuations and potential power outages. Any residents who lived under the path of the helicopters had to leave their homes during the morning, and the operations forced the temporary closure of Roble Lane and De la Guerra Terrace.
All upgrades were completed and residents were allowed back in their homes by the end of the day Friday. Eisenhauer said the upgrades will not only help prevent the risk of fire but also lead to fewer public safety power shutoffs in the future.
