Celebrate with those festive mylar balloons the wrong way and the lights go out – or worse
Are those helium-filled foil balloons party necessities or celebration killjoys?
As thousands in Citrus Heights, Orangevale and Folsom were making last-minute holiday preparations, metallic balloons triggered a major power outage Tuesday, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
“Please always keep your festive balloons tied down :-)“ tweeted SMUD Tuesday morning.
But cheery tweet belies a not-so-fun truth: Though lighter-than-air mylar balloons can make birthdays and anniversaries more festive, they can also be dangerous and destructive when they come into contact with electric wires and equipment.
In 2014, drifting Mylar balloons briefly knocked out power to nearly 18,000 South Sacramento customers. Balloons caused a similar power outage in Elk Grove in 2015. A shiny metal balloon ensnared in overhead electrical wires cut power for about 7,500 in the Arden area in 2007.
And it’s not just power outages.
Wild animals can choke on the brightly colored balloons, mistaking them for jellyfish and sea turtles. Train services were stalled in San Francisco last year when flames erupted from a mylar balloon touching one of the BART station tracks. Sparks from mylar balloons contacting electric wires ignited a wildfire near Jackson, Wyoming in September.
Mylar is a kind of polyester film – it’s used in everything from space blankets to trading cards.
But what makes mylar balloons so dangerous is when it’s metalized, meaning it’s coated in a thin metal film.
That metallic coating makes for an excellent conductor of electricity. When the balloon touches a power line or gets tangled up in substation equipment, it generates a surge of electricity, causing power lines to short-circuit.
“This can result in property damage, fires and even injury or death from electrocution,” SMUD warns online.
For nearly 30 years, California has been regulating the sale and use of the helium-filled foil party favors.
Sellers aren’t allowed to distribute the balloons without proper counter-weights, and anyone who releases one outside can be fined up to $100. Repeat offenders face a misdemeanor charge.
But some have said this doesn’t go far enough.
In 2008, the legislature considered a bill to ban the lighter-than-air foil party balloons altogether in California. A Pacific Gas and Electric spokeswoman at the time told The Bee that foil balloons accounted for 211 outages the previous year, and affected 143,000 customers.
Opponents to the bill – balloon manufacturers, florists, event planners – said the colorful party decoration was a scapegoat for poor power delivery systems. “At best, balloons are an infinitesimal part of the problem,” Pete McDonough, a spokesman with the New Jersey-based Balloon Council, told The Bee at the time.
An outright ban of metallic balloons would eliminate up to $1 billion in direct sales statewide and so-called indirect sales, those related to floral arrangements, greeting cards and toys, according to the Balloon Council, an organization of retailers, distributors and manufacturers, at the time.
Though a version of the bill passed through the legislature, it was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
So, how can you avoid ruining your next party?
- Keep mylar balloons tied up, and attached to a weight.
- Keep mylar balloons indoors.
- Don’t tie multiple mylar balloons together.
- Avoid celebrating with mylar balloons when there are nearby overhead power lines.
- Puncture and deflate mylar balloons when the festivities are over.
This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 12:28 PM.