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 spokesperson 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.