Local News in Brief : Phone Pole Fire Forces Evacuation in Burbank
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Residents of two dozen homes in Burbank were evacuated Thursday after a transformer on a telephone pole caught fire, which authorities feared might release cancer-causing pollutants.
The fire broke out about 4:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of West Magnolia Boulevard, and residents were evacuated from two intersecting streets, Griffith Park and Beachwood drives, Burbank Police Sgt. Rick Madrid said.
Madrid and Julie Goodwin, a spokeswoman for the Burbank Fire Department, said there were fears the fire would release smoke from the transformer atop the pole. Electrical transformers often contain an industrial oil that, when burned, emits PCBs--polychlorinated biphenyls--a suspected cancer-causing agent.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze shortly after it started, and residents were allowed to return to their homes by 7 p.m., Goodwin said.
There were no injuries, she said.
The cause of the fire had not been determined.
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