Santa Ana winds estimated at up to 80 mph, toppled 29 utility poles along Live Oak Avenue from Santa Anita to 10th Avenue in Arcadia. Arcadia was the hardest hit of the San Gabriel Valley cities.
Several blocks of Live Oak Avenue will be closed through Thursday while Edison crews remove street lights, traffic signals and wooden power poles that snapped under powerful overnight wind gusts Monday from the Santa Ana winds.
A $30 million plan to provide standardized breathing equipment for every fire department in Los Angeles County has been suspended after a lawsuit alleged the contract process was mishandled and firefighters complained about the quality of the equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment is suing the city and county of Los Angeles, contending the contract process was improperly handled in a manner that ignored firefighter input and unfairly favored the winning bidder, L.N. Curtis and sons.
Southern California Edison (SCE) officials say that the Santa Ana winds caused the third largest power outage in the company's 113-year history. All electrical services are back along Live Oak Avenue in Arcadia.
Pasadena Fire Department officials spent more than $320,000 to purchase breathing apparatus from distributor L.N. Curtis and Sons, which is at the center of a lawsuit filed by rival equipment company, Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment against the city and county of Los Angeles. 57 self contained breathing apparatus remain unused at Pasadena Fire Station 34 pending a judge's ruling next month.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant has voided a $30 million contract that Los Angeles County awarded to L.N. Curtis and Sons for fire equipment. Arcadia-based Allstar Fire Equipment sued the city and county of Los Angeles, claiming the selection process used to award the contract was improperly handled and the judge agreed. The actual funding for the contract came from the federal Department of Homeland Security. The judge's orders require the county to either restart the bidding process or re-evaluate all the bids properly.
Two Asian men died Wednesday night after being gunned down as they left a restaurant in the 1000 block of South Baldwin Ave. One victim was identified as Kenneth Tsui of West Covina.