Thousands of Davis PG&E customers found themselves without power Saturday evening as a result of two blown electrical transformers whose resulting fires shot smoke and flames into the air, Davis fire officials reported.
Division Chief Paul Swanson said crews responded to separate incidents at 5:08 p.m. in the 500 block of Alvarado Avenue in North Davis, followed by a second one at 7:38 p.m. at Lake Boulevard and Marina Circle in West Davis.
Both of the blown transformers resulted in fires that “were large in size,” charring nearby grass and bushes at the North Davis scene and a section of residential fence in West Davis. Firefighters evacuated two apartment buildings on Alvarado Avenue and a home near the Lake Boulevard fire during the incidents.
Because both electrical vaults were still energized when crews arrived on scene, firefighters monitored the fires until PG&E workers could de-energize the transformers, which enabled fire crews to extinguish the flames, Swanson said.
No injuries were reported.
The explosions caused major power outages in both North and West Davis, affecting more than 3,500 customers at their peaks, according to the PG&E website. That number was at about 1,200 by 10 p.m. Saturday, and a PG&E spokeswoman said power was expected to be fully restored around midnight.
Photos emailed and tweeted to The Enterprise showed a ball of fire and black smoke emerging from the Lake Boulevard scene, where the force of the explosion blew the cover off the vault and was felt in surrounding residences.
“It was like a thunder roar,” said Patrick Fish, a West Plainfield volunteer firefighter who lives about a block away. “I figured it was a transformer — this has happened before,” when sudden hot weather has put more air-conditioning systems into use.
Firefighters at the West Davis fire station felt the blast as well, Swanson said. In addition to the blown transformers, fire crews also battled a 50-by-25-foot grass fire at Interstate 80 and Richards Boulevard that was reported about 10 minutes before the West Davis incident.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene
