Transformer explosion triggers five small fires

palo alto fire

PALO ALTO, CA -

An initial report of a possible airplane crash at the Palo Alto Airport Monday morning turned out instead to be three electrical fires, two in East Palo Alto and one across San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto.

A PG&E power line came down in East Palo Alto, sparking two small brush fires around 11:15 a.m. along San Francisquito Creek. In the same minute, a transformer fire broke out at the nearby Baylands Athletic Center baseball field in Palo Alto, fire officials said.

Authorities said there is no indication that the brush fires in East Palo Alto are related to the transformer fire in Palo Alto, but the cause of each fire is under investigation.

One East Palo Alto fire occurred near the dead-end of O'Connor Street. The slow-burning blaze consumed vegetation in a 40-foot by 100-foot area, Fire Marshal Jon Johnston said. The fire went up about 30 feet to a home's fence line, where cool temperatures and damp conditions likely prevented flames from extending any farther.

The second fire was found at the end of Jasmine Way, Johnston said. Both blazes were extinguished in about 10 minutes.

A PG&E crew was called to respond to the scene, where a power outage affecting 322 customers was reported in the area of Jasmine Way around 11:30 a.m., PG&E spokeswoman Angela Lombardi said. As of 3:20 p.m., power was restored to a majority of the customers except for a few dozen. The cause of the outage is under investigation.

Across the creek, a Palo Alto fire crew was in the middle of wildland fire training near the Baylands Athletic Center baseball field where a transformer caught on fire around 11:15 a.m., interim Fire Chief Geoffrey Blackshire said. The crew quickly extinguished the blaze, which was confined to the transformer.

Despite an early report that a plane had crashed, fire crews determined no aircraft was involved, according to Johnston and Blackshire. No injuries were reported and no evacuation orders were issued for any of the fires.

Related News

olympia transformer leak

Olympia efforts to remove contaminated sediment from Capitol Lake continue

OLYMPIA, WA - Activity related to clean-up from the Olympia Brewery Transformer oil spill will increase in Heritage Park this week and will begin to wind down in Marathon Park.

Marathon Park has been a staging area for work to remove contaminated sediment from Capitol Lake, with the parking lot closed for public use. Spill responders anticipate decommissioning the Marathon Park staging area by the end of next week.

A staging area for the next phase of sediment removal work will be located in Heritage Park. Set up begins today. Impacts will include:

  • Greenspace:  Some greenspace will be fenced off and inaccessible throughout the…

    READ MORE

Lawsuit alleges EWEB’s faulty transformer caused house fire

READ MORE

Transformer Steel Market Sales Volume, Status, Growth, Opportunities and World Market Share Of 2019-2024

READ MORE

power transformer

Pioneer Reaches Agreement to Sell Transformer Business for Approximately $65 Million

READ MORE

Electrical Transformer Market Share and Growth 2019| Siemens, Alstom, GE

READ MORE