Following the unprecedented windstorm and wildfires that impacted Los Angeles County, we understand that Burbank residents might have questions about our readiness to handle power and water outages, water quality, and our ability to support firefighting efforts.
Overall Readiness
We want to reassure you that Burbank Water and Power (BWP) is always prepared to respond to emergencies and unexpected impacts on utility services. During the height of the windstorm and fire activity, we experienced no issues with water quality or availability. Power disruptions in Burbank were significantly shorter compared to neighboring areas, averaging just over 4 hours, whereas some communities faced outages lasting days.
Electric Division Readiness and Response
The windstorm began on January 7, with extreme winds peaking at over 80mph and lasting through January 8. While the winds diminished by January 10, some stronger breezes persisted until January 16. Trees and other vegetation falling on power lines caused significant damage to utility poles and transformers, leading to multiple outages in some areas.
From the outset, our line crews prioritized maintaining power to critical customers such as St. Joseph Hospital, the water treatment plant, and water delivery systems. Our 24/7 Energy Control Center (ECC), equipped with a state-of-the-art outage monitoring system, played a crucial role in coordinating power restoration efforts. Thanks to the precise teamwork between field and operations center crews, we managed to keep outage times to a minimum during the storm.
Scope of Response
BWP deployed its entire crew of 35 Line Mechanics during the storm, with rotating schedules to ensure that each team member received enough rest. Our crews worked tirelessly to respond to numerous outage locations occurring simultaneously, often having to return to the same area multiple times as new outages occurred.
In addition to the physical challenges of restoring power throughout Burbank, our on-site teams were inundated with hundreds of calls from concerned residents seeking updates on outages and restoration times. Juggling these calls while dispatching crews and providing accurate information was a monumental task. The combined efforts of operational staff, including ECC personnel, warehouse staff providing critical components, customer service teams, security staff which answered after hours phone calls, electric department supervisory staff monitoring the 311 app notifications and management staff coordinating the restoration effort exemplifies our commitment to serving the Burbank community, even in the most difficult circumstances.
More than 1,200 labor hours were dedicated to responding to the storm. Despite mutual aid arrangements, BWP managed the volume of outages with our resources and subsequently offered assistance to neighboring utilities for county-wide recovery.
Summary of Outages (January 7 – 8, 2025):
- Number of outages: 50+ wide area outages
- Number of customers impacted: 23,640
- Peak outage total: On January 7, 17,901 customers were without power. 50% of these customers had their power restored before dawn on January 8.
- Outage duration: Ranged from 30 minutes to 8 hours for most customers, with an average of 4.5 hours across the system during the 2 peak days of the storm.
Risk Reduction During an Emergency
At BWP, the safety of our community and employees is our top priority. We strive to balance reliability with safety through procedures for electric distribution system protection and staging resources in advance of an event. When a storm is forecasted, we implement measures to mitigate dangers from incidents like fallen trees, damaged equipment, and compromised power lines. We also pre-stage equipment and crews to ensure the fastest possible response.
How BWP Makes Power Safer During a Windstorm
- Block Automatic Reclosing*1: To prevent any potential issues and keep people safe, BWP blocks automatic reclosing of circuit breakers at substations during strong winds. This stops power from turning back on until workers check the lines.
- Lowering Electrical Energy in Faults*2: BWP’s system quickly isolates electrical faults, reducing the flow of electricity into faults and lowering the chance of safety concerns from events such as downed power lines.
How These Changes Help Our Community
- Keeps People Safe: Ensuring that power doesn’t turn back on until it’s safe minimizes the danger of electrocution and sparks from fallen wires.
- Protects Homes and Businesses: While there might be a slight increase in outages, this safer system helps prevent major damage during storms.
These upgrades make BWP’s power system safer, helping to protect our community during dangerous weather.
Communications Readiness
Collaboration between senior management, technical personnel, environmental and safety experts, and the City of Burbank’s Fire Department ensured effective communication during the storm. We identified critical factors to communicate internally and to impacted customers to maintain safety and provide a quick response.
Water Division Readiness and Response
BWP supports the Burbank Fire Department by ensuring equipment and water supply availability, guided by information from weather agencies and LA County emergency personnel. During the recent fire watch and red flag warning period, we activated the following specific water production operations:
Water Supply and Operations
- Storage Levels: We filled our storage systems, both potable and recycled water, to above normal levels to respond adequately to a fire event.
- Pump Readiness: Our pumps are fully operational and can pump water to storage areas, including on the hillsides.
- Water Conservation Alerts: Our public information office will alert the community to limit or turn off outdoor water use if necessary.
- Additional Personnel: If the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated, additional water division personnel will assist with system monitoring and water delivery.
- Equipment Redundancy: Portable pumps are stationed in strategic locations to ensure continuous water delivery during power loss.
- Interagency Coordination: We maintain regular communication with the Metropolitan Water District’s (MWD) operation control center to ensure treated water availability in emergencies.
- Fire Hydrants: BWP maintains 2,027 fully pressurized and operational hydrants, with an annual maintenance and replacement schedule.
While urban water systems like Burbank’s support firefighting efforts, they are not designed to fight wildfires, which require additional resources such as portable water tanks, aerial drops, specialized equipment, and coordination with forestry services.
If you have any questions about how BWP prepares for and responds to unexpected events, storms, and natural disasters, please contact us at bwpconservation@burbankca.gov.
Definitions:
*1 An automatic recloser is a device that helps restore power to your neighborhood after a brief outage. When something like a short circuit happens, it temporarily disconnects a section of the power line. After a little while, it tries a few times to turn the power back on to bring electricity back to your home.
*2 Lowering electrical energy in faults means reducing the amount of electricity flowing through a circuit when something goes wrong, like a short circuit. This helps protect equipment from getting damaged by minimizing the energy released during the fault. Devices like fuses and circuit breakers quickly interrupt the circuit when a fault is detected, helping to keep things safe.
