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Much of Topanga Canyon Boulevard remained closed to traffic and without power on Tuesday Dec. 1 after a vehicle crashed into a pole, which also caused a two-acre brush fire and mass power outages the night prior.
Topanga Canyon Road remained closed from Pacific Coast Highway to Fernwood Pacific Drive into 3 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Sigalert.com. And per Southern California Edison, 22 customers along the road still lacked power by 2:23 p.m. on Tuesday.
The brush fire sparked by the traffic accident scorched about two acres along the road on Monday evening before firefighters stopped the fire’s progress. The fire is also suspected to have caused a power outage that affected 1,000 people along Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
LA County Fire Department Supervisor Pittman reportedly told the Malibu Times that he believes live wires down caused the outage, and a flaming electrical box caused the blaze. “Looks like it was a traffic collision in which a vehicle struck a pole and it looks like the electrical box was on fire and touched off some brush,” Pittman told The Times.
According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the blaze was reported at 9:15 p.m. near Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Fernwood Pacific Drive, about 2.5 miles north of Pacific Coast Highway, when a vehicle crash sparked a fire that spread into nearby brush. Then at around 10 p.m., the fire department reported the fire had been stopped and crews would remain on scene to mop-up any hot spots.
Pittman explained: “Looks like it was a traffic collision in which a vehicle struck a pole and it looks like the electrical box was on fire and touched off some brush. The Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station reported that SCE crews arrived to de-energize the wires.
The fire directly caused the closure of Topanga Canyon Boulevard from Pacific Coast Highway to Old Topanga Canyon Road until further notice, per the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Malibu/Lost Hills station. On Tuesday morning, all lanes were still closed in both directions from PCH to Fernwood Pacific Drive and Caltrans and California Highway Patrol reported there were no projections as to the roadways’ reopening. However, by the afternoon, All lanes of Topanga Canyon Blvd were open, according to Caltrans District 7’s Twitter account.
Fortunately, no injuries were immediately reported, as well as no structures were reported damaged.