Overnight Winds Cause Havoc in Burbank

It was a busy night for firefighters, police, public service workers and forestry crews Tuesday night/Wednesday morning as winds caused a number of problems in Burbank.

It started a little after 8pm when a power surge hit throughout the city.  It was believed that it was caused by a tree’s fronds that the wind knocked into a power feeder line at Parish and Victory.  The  palm frowns hit the street and a vehicle but were quickly put out by a Burbank fire engine. Police blocked a portion of Victory while power crews went to work.

Residents reported their light had flickered for a moment, including at the Burbank Town Center – many reported that TV boxes like DirecTV had went to the reset mode and one reported being in BevMo when the business went dark in the Empire Center.

That was just the beginning, however.

Burbank Fire soon got a call of smell of smoke coming from an outlet in the 700  block of Kenwood. Station 12 handled the problem.

Many of the signals in the city then went into ‘flash mode”, which meant that red lights flash in all directions. This happens whenever signals lose power and then it is returned.  It manually takes a person to reset them to their normal operation.

Fire also responded to the 400 block of E. magnolia to free someone from an elevator.

Burbank police then went on one task after another.

A tumble weed was reported at Victory Place and Lake, a tree branch along with other debris fell on the I-5 Freeway near Buena Vista, prompting Burbank Police to shut down two lanes of traffic while it was removed by officers with CHP eventually taking over.  Another tree fell on the Burbank off-ramp of the I-5 causing cars to reverse until police could get it closed down.

A street sign at Andover and Glenoaks became loose and hung dangerously with police calling out public service to secure the sign so it would not fall on a motorist.

One of the parkway trees in the in the 100 block of S. Beachwood came tumbling over and hit the residents house right by Burbank Fire Station 15.  There were no injuries but as a police officer on scene decribed it as a ‘sight to see’. Forestry was called to remove the tree since it was city property.

Finally there was a tree that fell on the 2700 block of Chandler tht completely blocked the Burbank Bike Path.

Police were extremely busy during the entire evening but responded to every emergency in minutes and took care of all the problems with efficiency, making the calls to the proper departments.