Mylar Balloons Cause Las Cruces Power Outage

Heart-shaped, metallic, pink or red. Those popular Valentine’s Day balloons may look harmless, but El Paso Electric officials told ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom, if one touches a power line, the interference can shut down an entire substation, which is exactly what happened in Las Cruces Monday evening. The interaction is similar to sticking a metal screw driver into an electrical outlet, officials said.

But where could a mylar balloon have come from to break down the substation along Espina Street and Griggs Avenue? Believe it or not, there was a cemetery full of metallic balloons right next to the substation.

“It’s really embarrassing that it could have been from St Joseph’s Cemetery,” Irene Valles, cemetery committee chair, said.

Hundreds of colorful, metallic, mylar balloons decorated St. Joseph Cemetery Tuesday.

“It’s a strong possibility that it did come from there,” Valles said.

From the cemetery grounds just feet away from a major substation that lost power around 5 p.m. Monday.

“With any electrical system, when it senses something is getting into the lines and interfering with it, it shuts down to protect itself,” Teresa Souza, spokesperson for El Paso Electric, said.

And officials told ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom, that is exactly what happened when a helium-filled, foil balloon got caught in one of the lines, and left 2,200 residential customers in the dark.

“These aren’t rare, it has happened before,” Souza said. “We can’t control lightning, we can’t control balloons, we can’t control the wind.”

Barbed wire fencing traps some material from ever reaching power lines. And because of close proximity, cemetery officials said, they try to control what is left on grave sites.

“We do prohibit balloons, teddy bears and so fourth, the silk flowers,” Valles said. “We do have a general cleanup of such items because we do discourage people against it.”

Workers spent Tuesday afternoon removing bundles of mylar balloons, a practice one man said, is getting old.

“We need to make stronger recommendations against it from the church, and more rules and regulations posted on the ground,” Valles said.

Catholics may hear a similar announcement at the end of mass this upcoming weekend, Valles said.

It is important to note, however, on a typical day St. Joseph Cemetery is not filled with hundreds of mylar balloons; the holiday was the exception, Valles said.

El Paso Electric officials are not blaming the cemetery for the outage; of course, a mylar balloon could have drifted from anywhere, Souza said.

All balloons inside St. Joseph Cemetery have since been removed.