Hemet: Power restored after explosion and fire

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Hemet: Power restored after explosion and fire

Explosion, fire shut off power in Hemet

By DAVID OLSON
The Press-Enterprise

An explosion and fire at a Southern California Edison substation in Hemet cut off power to 6,400 customers Friday night and Saturday.

About 700 customers were without power for nearly 24 hours after the fire, which may have been caused when a car hit a power pole more than a mile away. Power was restored to most customers within an hour, and to hundreds of other customers overnight and through Saturday, Edison spokesman Steve Conroy said.

A car hit the power pole at 8:14 p.m. Friday on the 2900 block of Commonwealth Avenue, said Hemet Police Sgt. Nate Miller. It's unclear what caused the accident, he said.

The substation's transformer caught fire at about 8:15 p.m. Conroy said. The accident could have triggered problems that led to the transformer fire. Edison is investigating, Conroy said.

Charles Holman, 57, who lives about a half block from the substation, heard two explosions.

"I heard a big blow-up, opened the door and saw flames going completely up into the sky," he said.

The flames reached several stories high, Holman said.

Holman's home did not regain power until just before 8 p.m. Saturday, when Conroy said power was restored to the final 700 customers. He said that, other than about $40 in frozen meat that spoiled, his family got through the outage without a problem.

"We've got candles and all that stuff," he said. "We just got more sleep."

Joan Berry's mobile home shook from the power of the explosion. Berry, 71, lives about a half mile away.

The company Saturday was also cleaning up oil that leaked after the fire, he said. None of the oil seeped from the substation property, Conroy said.

Source: pe.com - Link

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Sunday, January 25, 2009