Thousands of Morongo Basin residents were without power yesterday due to the rain that sparked shorts in electrical transformers in Joshua Tree. A soft gentle rain started Tuesday morning. Firefighters were called to the first transformer fire at Highway 62 and Sunkist about 3:15, but had to stand by for about 30 minutes while they waited for crews from Southern California Edison to turn off power to the affected lines. Then at 6 p.m., another transformer started arcing at Alta Loma and Saddleback, plunging more customers into darkness. Shortly after, the arm for a streetlight at Circle Crest and Sunset broke off and was hanging from the pole, caused most likely due to wind.
