Utility Fire Knocks Out Power in San Francisco

A power failure left nearly a fourth of the city of San Francisco in darkness Saturday night after a stubborn fire damaged an underground utility company substation.

A spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric said the fire first cut power about 1:30 p.m. But much of the north-central and central sections of the city stayed dark through the evening as workers struggled to clear soot, water and burned equipment out of the substation and restore service to about 25,000 customers, said Scott Blakey, a PG & E spokesman.

The fire cut power to homes, businesses and street lights in Pacific Heights, Haight-Ashbury, the Richmond district and Golden Gate Park, Blakey said.

San Francisco police said there were no reports of looting or muggings, although failed traffic signals led to auto accidents.

“The populace has been very good this evening,” said Sgt. Terence Collins. “But we’ve been getting a lot of calls, like ‘Who’s gonna pay for my defrosted food?’ ”

Blakey said utility workers have not determined what caused the fire. Investigators have determined only that a cable blew out, triggering a “domino effect, and it took the substation out,” Blakey said. “It wasn’t a huge fire, but it was a stubborn one.”

PG & E workers restored power at 5:30 p.m. to about 2,500 customers. As of 8 p.m., the other 22,500 still had no electricity, Blakey said.

“At this point, it’s sort of a waiting game,” he said. “We’re trying to bypass a station in those neighborhoods (where) we can. It involves a massive cleaning effort, because the fire left massive soot and smoke deposits and water damage, and it has to be cleaned up before we can re-energize the station.”