Underground Electrical Blast Injures 2 Workers

An explosion in an underground Southern California Edison Co. vault in Santa Fe Springs on Thursday seriously injured two men and closed a Sears store for six hours, officials said.

Three workers were in the vault near the Santa Fe Plaza shopping center when the explosion occurred at 10 a.m., Edison spokesman Dave Barron said.

The underground electrical vault served only a Sears store in the shopping center, he said, adding that the cause of the explosion, which generated extensive damage, was under investigation.

Joe Taylor, a foreman, and Bob Studelska, an electrical splicer, were hospitalized with serious burns. A third worker escaped injury and helped pull his co-workers from the vault, Barron said.