Electricity and Workers Both Go Out

Electricity was cut to 4,416 customers Tuesday when an underground conduit plug exploded in southeast Ventura, catapulting a manhole cover into the air.

Teachers at Montalvo School dealt with the power outage by taking their students into the afternoon sunshine to continue rehearsals for a springtime dance festival.

And the Ventura Police Department and California Highway Patrol offices fired up generators to power their radios and dispatched officers to direct cars at intersections where traffic lights were out of service.

The power failed at 1:59 p.m. across several square miles near the intersection of Sperry Avenue and Valentine Road, when the 9,500-volt conduit plug exploded in an underground vault, said Mike Montoya, a spokesman for Southern California Edison.

The utility restored power to all but 1,700 customers within 17 minutes, and the last 10 customers by 5:30 p.m., he said.

The main impact of the power outage seemed to be a short-circuiting of the afternoon for several thousand Ventura workers.

“It was pretty outrageous,” said Walter Charnow, a dispatcher at a food equipment plant near the intersection. “I heard the boom and walked out to see what happened. The manhole cover had been flipped from right under the ground.”

For some of the dozens of managers, computer operators and blue-collar workers left idle by the power outage, the blackout was a welcome break from the daily routine, a chance to go outdoors and enjoy the sunny spring afternoon.

“Can’t work,” said Eddie Heviz, a technician employed by a nearby computer company, as he strolled along Sperry Street. “No computers, no light, no electricity--might as well walk around.”

Several office workers sunned themselves on a grassy mound a few yards from the blasted vault and watched a five-man Edison crew repair the damage.

Others were not so relaxed.

Attorney Michael L. Muirhead paced nervously outside the offices of Bleuel, Buford and Muirhead, puffing away at his cigarette minutes after the electricity and phone service went out.

“The lights went out in the middle of a pretty important call,” he said, shaking his head in frustration. “I was just about to give out the critical part of my advice on an unlawful detainer, and my client has just one day to respond. She must be going crazy trying to reach me.”

Edison foreman Ed McKern stuck his head into the blasted electrical vault and waxed philosophical.

“That’s what electricity wants to do, it wants to go to ground,” he said. “You’ve got 9,500 volts going from phase to ground and that’s what happens.”