Electrical Explosions Hurt 2, Cut Power to 16,000 in Santa Monica

A series of rain-related explosions in an underground electrical substation rocked downtown Santa Monica before dawn Thursday and sent flames shooting from a manhole, slightly injuring two men and knocking out power for several hours to about 16,000 customers.

About 2,000 customers within a two-block radius of the substation at Lincoln Boulevard and Colorado Avenue were expected to be without electricity until this afternoon, Southern California Edison Co. officials said.

The explosion, caused by the rain soaking electrical equipment, occurred at 4:35 a.m. in the densely populated area of homes and businesses.

Witnesses saw a bright green and blue flash that sent flames shooting 10 feet in the air.

“I heard a huge explosion and I thought it was an earthquake,” said resident Maria Zerkov, 53. “I thought we were going to blow up.”

Two men, who were believed to be homeless, were treated at the scene for minor cuts, authorities said. A woman delivering the Los Angeles Times to a newspaper rack in front of a restaurant escaped injury, but the blast shattered the windows of her pickup truck and charred 800 newspapers stacked in the truck bed.

Two Santa Monica police officers were eating breakfast in Norm’s Restaurant when flames shot out of the manhole in front of the eatery, shattering its front window.

“It was chaotic. People were just walking around dazed,” said Sgt. Al Venegas.

James Stanley, a 37-year-old homeless man, was trying to find shelter from the rain when he saw the “ground explode” in front of Norm’s Restaurant and people dive for cover.

One of them was Martha Juarez, 40, a part-time newspaper delivery woman who was protected from the blast by her truck and the newspaper rack.

By noon Thursday, power had been restored to all but about 4,000 customers, and by 9 p.m. that number was halved. Most of the day, however, traffic was tangled because about 40 traffic lights were out. Santa Monica police officers guided drivers through the chaos on a few corners. Elsewhere, pedestrians and motorists fended for themselves.

Southern California Edison spokesman Mark Olson said a computer monitoring the substation automatically shut down power to 16,000 customers after the blast to avoid a catastrophic chain-reaction explosion citywide.

Rain had soaked a high-voltage power line at 6th Street and Colorado Avenue, sending a surge to the vault at Lincoln Boulevard that sends power to one-third of Santa Monica.

Crews were expected to work through the night Thursday to replace the charred and melted lines, Olson said.

The outage unevenly affected business on the bustling Third Street Promenade.

Yankee Doodles restaurant had power Thursday morning while the Borders Books & Music across the street did not.

People crowded the Starbucks because it was one of the few coffee shops in the area still operating. Manager Krista Smith said several people called to ask why her business had power.

“I just keep saying, ‘I don’t know, but we’re glad we do,’ ” Smith said. “It’s been really, really busy.”

Johnny Rockets, a hamburger restaurant, wasn’t as lucky. About half a dozen employees sat in the dark waiting for power to be restored.

“I kind of knew something was happening on my way in because there were no lights anywhere in Santa Monica,” said manager Arnold Alonso, who arrived at 7 a.m.