San Francisco underground vault eruptions shut down downtown blocks
By Cecilio Padilla
A series of underground vault eruptions in downtown San Francisco prompted evacuations, an expanded shelter-in-place order and a power outage Thursday morning, fire officials said.
The San Francisco Fire Department responded just after 6 a.m. near California and Front streets after smoke was reported coming from several underground vaults. Earlier reports had described the incident as a vault fire.
SFFD said four vaults in the area have since experienced eruptions, all contained to the vaults themselves.
The immediate area has been evacuated and surrounding streets cordoned off while firefighters, police and PG&E work under a unified command.
The shelter-in-place order has been expanded to the 100-300 blocks of both California and Front streets.
A power outage is also affecting the area, and PG&E is shutting off additional power as crews work to make the scene safe. Fire officials said that will affect more nearby buildings.
PG&E told officials it anticipated resolving the incident around 9:30 a.m.
No injuries have been reported.
