Underground, out of power
Subterranean boom causes sidewalk to buckle, outage to more than 1,100
An underground explosion suspected of being the result of an electrical vault fire near the Valencia Lanes bowling alley on Lyons Avenue has left more than 1,100 people without electrical power in Newhall.
At 10:13 a.m., a power outage suddenly left 2,230 customers of Southern California Edison without electricity, Mary Ann Milbourn, spokeswoman for Edison, said.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., power was restored for 1,091 customers, she said, leaving 1,139 still without power.
“We haven’t decided what it was,” Milbourn said, referring to the cause of the outage. “We should have full power restored my mid-afternoon.”
Edison workers were on the scene of the explosion as of noon.
About 10:14 a.m., firefighters were dispatched to the 23000 block of Lyons Avenue, between Peachland Avenue and Wheeler Road, for reports of smoke coming from the sidewalk that appeared to be buckling.
“This was an underground explosion, reported as an electrical vault fire,” said Vanessa Lozano, spokeswoman for The Los Angeles County Fire Department.
No injuries were reported.
When firefighters arrived at the scene they found a smoking vault under the sidewalk near the Coffee Kiosk, Lozano said.
Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station assisted in traffic control, Lozano said.