The buzz of low-flying helicopters as Southern California Edison inspected its equipment in recent months has been hard to miss in some local neighborhoods.
Flyovers prompted questions and annoyed rants on social media and sometimes even led to concerned calls to police.
But in recent weeks, the utility company says, it has mostly wrapped up its aerial inspections in Ventura County. That is, at least for now.
"We anticipate some 're-fly' areas that will take less than a week before the end of the month," Edison told The Star in an emailed response to questions.
Over roughly 2½ months, crews have inspected more than 30,500 lines, poles, transformers, cross-arms, insulators and other equipment, said company spokesman David Song.
Buy Photo Personnel from Southern California Edison repair lines Saturday at Old Conejo Road in Newbury Park where the Hill Fire burned. (Photo: JUAN CARLO/THE STAR)
Photos taken from high-tech cameras on the helicopters, typically flown by Edison vendors, are shared with an inspection team. That team looks at the equipment's condition and determines if any repairs are needed.
While inspections by air aren't necessarily new, they were expanded last year as part of Edison's efforts to prevent malfunctions that could spark a wildfire.
Dozens of California fires have been blamed on electrical equipment in recent years, including Thomas in December 2017. The fire burned roughly 440 square miles in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Two people died in the blaze that burned more than 1,000 buildings, including hundreds of homes in Ventura.
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Investigators said it started when Edison power lines sparked dry brush in windy conditions near Santa Paula.
While inspections mostly wrapped up locally in December, they will happen again sometime in 2020. Crews will continue to routinely inspect equipment, based on the inspection schedule of each piece of equipment risk and condition, the company said.
Officials also have said helicopters won't fly before 7 a.m. and won't hover in any one area for hours at a time.
Thousand Oaks resident Will Morstad noticed the low-flying helicopter in his Thousand Oaks neighborhood last week. Then, he got a phone call from his insurance company that got him thinking about it again.
He and his wife had recently installed solar panels for their home. Shortly after the helicopter had circled the area taking pictures, their insurance company called to see if they wanted to add to their policy.
The company told him the call was prompted by photos of their house showing the solar panels installed, making Morstad wonder if Edison had shared them.
Edison officials said they don't share the photos and told The Star the timing was purely coincidental and unrelated to the aerial inspection.
Morstad said he thinks the helicopters created more of a buzz because they aren't a routine sight or sound in local neighborhoods. "I think that's why we were a little more on alert," he said.
The Simi Valley Police Department was peppered with queries for several weeks â€" with some callers thinking they were being followed by police.
"We got calls at the desk," said Cmdr. Steve Shorts. "Several officers, including me, got calls on our city cell phones."
As questions from residents continued, a staff member posted about it on the department's Facebook page.
"That's how bad it was," Shorts said.
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The Jan. 3 Facebook post explains that the helicopters were surveying power lines for Edison.
"Please spread the word!" the post concludes. "We promise it's not us following you."
The post generated 220 comments with a range of reactions.
"Someone said they were searching for mountain lions," one reader commented.
"Thanks for posting this," another user replied. "There's too many paranoid people posting about it on the Nextdoor app."
Shorts, the police commander, said the Simi Valley department doesn't have its own helicopters. So when helicopters are overhead, it's unusual. Air units from Ventura County and several agencies in Los Angeles County provide assistance for major incidents or to help with suspect searches.
"We're a small community in Ventura County," he said. "We don't have helicopter activity like Los Angeles."
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Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.
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