Fifth Day of Heat Wave Sends Temperatures Soaring, Knocks Out Power to Thousands

Fans turned off. Air conditioning vanished. Freezer ice began to thaw. The sun, however, just kept on shining.

Thousands of residents lost power across the San Diego region on Sunday as a punishing heat wave entered its fifth day. At one point Sunday afternoon, San Diego Gas & Electric said about 13,000 customers were without electricity. By 8 p.m., the utility reported more than 11,000 still lacked power, affecting residents from Lemon Grove to City Heights to Old Town, as well as some in Escondido and Vista. Some problems were attributed to weather affecting equipment, while others were being investigated, according to the company’s outage map.