Las Vegas, NV (KXNT) – Power was knocked out to an estimated 10,000 people on Sunday night in downtown Las Vegas, and NV Energy said mylar balloons were to blame.
The utility released pictures on its X social media page showing several of the balloons tangled up in power lines.
NV Energy said that when the metallic lining in theses balloons comes into contact with equipment, they can cause the equipment to fail, resulting in an outage.
They also released the following safety tips for when using mylar balloons:
- Tether them together
- When disposing of the balloons, puncture them to release the helium. This will prevent the balloons from coming into contact with the power lines and causing a power outage
- Do not try to retrieve the balloon from the power line, but instead contact NV Energy to report the problem
Where the balloons came from isn’t known.