Local Emergency in Effect in Pasadena

Pasadena -  A local emergency was declared in Pasadena, prompting closure of public schools and city officials urging residents to stay home and avoid streets strewn with downed tree limbs and power lines amid some of the fiercest winds to lash the Southland in recent memory.

The local emergency was declared as "an additional measure to protect and preserve public safety above and beyond daily resources," Pasadena Emergency Management Coordinator Lisa Derderian said.

"A declaration of local emergency enables the city to get more resources to deal with the damage and reimbursement for significant cost that we anticipate we will have," Derderian said.

Schools in the Pasadena and South Pasadena unified school districts, Maranatha High School, Pasadena City College, Fuller Theological Seminary, Northwest College, and Pasadena public libraries were ordered closed for the day. The Lamanda Park and Hill Avenue library branches sustained minor damage and fallen trees, Pasadena Public Information Officer Ann Erdman said.

Pasadena and South Pasadena public schools will also be closed Friday. All locations of the Pasadena Public Library plan to hold regular hours on Friday.

Two hundred buildings in the city were damaged by high winds, and 42 units were "red tagged," meaning they are not safe for occupancy, Erdman said.

Forty of the red-tagged units were in a building in the 1200 block of Hudson Avenue that had been damaged by a fallen tree. Residents in red-tagged units were evacuated and 36 were taken to a temporary shelter at Robinson Park Recreation Center.

Seven residents were evacuated after a structure caught fire in the 900 block of Del Mar Boulevard.

Almost all major streets were cleared of debris by 7 p.m., after the city's Department of Public Works, with the help from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, worked to clear downed trees that affected about 450 streets earlier in the day, Erdman said.

More than 100 traffic signals were initially affected by the winds, and all but eight were restored by the afternoon, Erdman said.

About 2,400 customers in Pasadena were without power as of 7 p.m., Erdman said.

City officials urge people not to call 911 unless there is a life-threatening emergency. Residents can call information phone lines set up at (626) 564-0199 or (626) 564-0299 to report fallen trees or downed power lines.