More than 2,500 homes and businesses in the Lake Isabella area were without power Wednesday night after a grass fire toppled a power pole. A shelter was opened to help residents without cooling or drinking water.
Power may be out for days, according to the Kern County Fire Department.
The area most affected is around Highway 178 and Ford Street, near the community of South Lake, according to KCFD spokesman Sean Collins.
"A transformer caused a small grass fire," Collins said. "The fire eventually got to the pole that was holding the transformer, which fell over, and that's what cut off the electricity."
The fire and fallen lines closed Highway 178 just before noon, but that road has been reopened.
Collins said some of the repair work is in nearly inaccessible terrain, and that will cause a significant delay.
"Part of the problem is that a lot of the houses up there are on water wells that operate with electric pumps," Collins said. ''If they don't have a backup generator, they can't get drinking water.
A shelter was opened at the Lake Isabella Senior Center, 6407 Lake Isabella Blvd.
