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San Franciscans take power outage in stride

No accidents or injuries reported in hourslong blackout

By Associated Press
Published: April 21, 2017, 11:18pm
2 Photos
From left, Kate Davis, Alex Rodriguez, Molly Gasch and Marissa Osowsky work on the steps across from their office at BBDO San Francisco during a power outage Friday in San Francisco.
From left, Kate Davis, Alex Rodriguez, Molly Gasch and Marissa Osowsky work on the steps across from their office at BBDO San Francisco during a power outage Friday in San Francisco. (jeff chiu/Associated Press) Photo Gallery

SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco power outage that stranded people in elevators and left tens of thousands in the dark Friday was caused by the massive failure of a circuit breaker that sparked a fire at a power substation, a utility company spokesman said.

The blackout hit at midmorning. Pacific Gas & Electric posted online just after 5 p.m. that power had been restored to all 90,000 customers who lost it in the Financial District and other areas of the city. Spokesman Barry Anderson said the equipment failed before a planned repair.

The Fire Department tweeted that it had responded to more than 100 calls for service, including 20 stuck elevators with people inside. At hospitals, surgeries were disrupted briefly but no problems were reported because backup generators kicked in, Mayor Ed Lee said.

“The best news of all was no injuries were associated with this incident,” Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

No traffic collisions were reported, either, and officials thanked motorists for driving so cautiously during the blackout. In fact, people in the city of 850,000 were generally courteous to each another.

The city’s iconic cable cars were taken out of service as a precaution since streetlights were not operating on large parts of their routes.

Tourists weren’t griping, though, said spokeswoman Erica Kato. “Everyone’s very understanding — it’s not us,” she said.

The outage initially closed the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency’s downtown Montgomery Station. People used the lights of their cellphones to walk through the darkened station before service was restored.

Later, people milled on sidewalks, controllers directed traffic manually, and shops were dark. Some buildings had power, others did not. ATM screens were blank.

People were confused about what was going on and what to do, said Pam Martinez, a 25-year-old software engineer who was on a train when she heard the announcement that her destination station was closed.

“Even crossing the street was chaotic because the streetlights don’t work and there’s a few ambulances trying to go through the crowds,” Martinez said. “It’s pretty crazy.”

Patricio Herrera sat glumly in his darkened restaurant, Ziggy’s Burgers, at what should have been a busy lunch hour.

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“We have lost everything today,” said Herrera, the store’s consulting chef and manager. Employees sat at tables behind him, chatting or checking their phones.

Employees at a Starbucks gave away cups of iced and hot coffee in the darkened shop. A worker said that was better than letting the coffee go to waste.

Many of those affected used social media to vent their frustrations or post celebratory memes about getting off work early to play. Police Chief William Scott said officers were working to clear traffic as quickly as possible, but in the meantime folks should just relax.

“Take advantage of this beautiful day. See the city and enjoy the restaurants, enjoy the parks and whatnot until we get traffic back to normalcy,” he said.

Anderson, the Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman, said the substation that failed was set to be part of $100 million upgrade of the power system.

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