16,000 Lose Power After Explosion at Edison Station

An explosion at a Southern California Edison substation Monday night knocked out power to about 16,000 customers for about 30 minutes.

The explosion occurred around 9:50 p.m. in the unmanned substation at the corner of Indianapolis Avenue and Lake Street. Huntington Beach police and fire engines rushed to the plant, where scores of residents had gathered. No injuries were reported.

Scott Marshutz, who lives at the corner of Indianapolis Avenue and Florida Street, said he saw three flashes of sparks. “It was like fireworks going off,” Marshutz said.

Diane Quan, who lives across the street from the substation, said she was watching television when she heard an explosion. She said she ran outside as two sets of “yellow sparks” shot from the substation. “It just went boom! Boom! Boom!” she said.

Edison spokesman Mike Martin said a transformer exploded, causing the outage. Another transformer picked up the load and power was completely restored within 30 minutes, he added.