SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Power has been restored to all but a few hundred San Francisco residents after a massive outage occurred Wednesday night.
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As of Thursday morning, 5,500 PG&E customers were without power in North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Telegraph Hill, Tenderloin and the Financial District neighborhoods. By the afternoon, that number had shrunk to 495, however, those customers may not see power until Saturday.
Nearly 10,000 people lost power at 9:13 p.m. Wednesday after an underground volt box exploded, catching fire in front of 640 Clay Street near Montgomery. The fire sent flames several feet in the air.
The affected customers include apartments, condos, small and large businesses, schools, a police station, a fire station and at least one hotel.
"This is a pretty disturbing situation," SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin told KCBS Radio. "It took Pacific Gas & Electric over 45 minutes from the time that our fire department notified them last night before they responded to a volt fire that spread to three different volts. The damage is extensive and it may be as long as Saturday before power is fully restored."
This information contradicted what PG&E reported Thursday morning — that power would be back on by 12 p.m.
Officials ensured that no residents were stuck in elevators. Traffic lights aren't working on several streets, so drivers are treating intersections as four way stops.
"It's deeply troubling that PG&E allowed this fire to burn for as long as they did before they responded," Peskin said.
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