Posted on 11/20/2006 11:49:40 AM PST by Silicon Cowboy
Underground Blasts Hit Downtown Sacramento Power Out At City Hall, Worker Reports
POSTED: 11:27 am PST November 20, 2006 UPDATED: 11:38 am PST November 20, 2006
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A series of underground explosions caused some power outages and traffic problems in downtown Sacramento Monday morning.
The first blast was reported in the area of Seventh and H streets shortly before 10 a.m.
Sacramento firefighters, light rail workers and Sacramento Municipal Utility District officials were at the scene investigating a possible electrical fire.
Power was out at City Hall and at least one other building, officials reported.
It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries resulting from the blasts.
For more details, watch KCRA 3 Reports at noon on television and streaming live on kcra.com.
I'd guess it's an underground transformer.
BOOM!!!
Yea... I am curious. 700 H is the County Admin building and... part of the "old city" is around there. If you go inside the old admin building, head to the basement, you can find the original entry on what used to be the street. The 2nd floor was originally the 1st.
A whole bunch of 'em.
Beat me to it.
So, can an electric line explode? (serious question)
I once spent some time in a town where several entire blocks had blown up in a natural gas explosion..... it can happen without nefarious doings, though I'd hope they've gotten better at preventing and detecting such leaks since 1968:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_Indiana
[Richmond, Indiana]: On April 6, 1968, several downtown blocks were destroyed or damaged by a natural gas explosion and fire, killing 41 people and injuring more than 150.[12] Thereafter, the main street through downtown was closed to traffic and the Downtown Promenade was built in 1972 (and later expanded in 1978). The five-block pedestrian mall was later torn down and the street reopened to traffic in 1997 as part of an urban revitalization effort.
I don't pretend to know more than I read in the article, but I do know that electricity doesn't blow up. It could have easily been a combination of factors including a spark caused by underground cables, and I don't suspect terrorism as terrorists tend to try and kill a lot of people which doesn't appear to have happened here. I hope those folks get their power back on soon. I hate trying to get by without electricity. Mine was out for about 30 hours when Rita came through last year and it was rough.
Wellll, not really, transformers, part of the circuit, can. The splices between cables (made in manholes) can arc, which is basically like lightning, and will produce a sond like an eplosion, but it's technically not an explosion.
Several years ago I had just left work in downtown Dayton, Ohio, using my usual route. I passed over a manhole cover on Main St and Monument Ave that at the time I noticed what I thought was steam coming out of it. Not more than 5 seconds after driving over the manhole cover I saw a huge fireball in my rear view mirror. It turned out there was an electrical fire in one of the many tunnels that caused an explosion.
Needless to say, that got my hear pumping. Had I been caught by the light (which I often was), I would have been 10 feet from the manhole.
Actually electricity does blow up. Overloaded transformers full of oil heat up and explode in balls of fire.
That's an awesome resource. Thanks for posting that link.
Why not?
I would love to see a free California again...
For a somewhat more technial answer, see post #29.
Transformers will explode. Check out the video at the bottom of this page:
http://www.alfatransformer.com/
Yeah. I'm 3 blocks away, didn't feel or hear a thing.
We've got a lot of SMUD vaults in the downtown Sacto. area. Remember, downtown is raised about 15 feet above ground level. Sac was built up before the levee system. They kept some of the areas raised up, including parts of the downtown grid. This wouldn't be the first vault to blow.
Forget Lodi, take a good look at Yuba City.
Saw it yesterday on another thread here. Can't remember the Freeper who posted it before me.
What a map......
bttt
I didn't hear anything at the block of 11th and N streets
Underground Blasts Hit Downtown Sacramento
UPDATED: 12:25 pm PST November 20, 2006
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A series of underground explosions caused some scattered power outages and traffic problems in downtown Sacramento Monday.
The first muffled blast was reported in the area of 7th and H streets at 9:25 a.m. Another round occurred at about 11 a.m.
Sacramento firefighters, light rail workers and Sacramento Municipal Utility District officials were at the scene investigating an electrical fire inside underground SMUD electrical vaults.
Capt. Jim Doucette said the exact cause of the fire was unclear.
As of noon, power was out at City Hall and the California Environmental Protection Agency building. At one point, the outage affected more than 100 customers.
Officials said no injuries were reported and damage was limited to the undeground vaults.
H Street between Seventh and Eighth streets was shut down to allow crews to fix the problem. Authorities offered no estimate on when the problem would be fixed or when the street will reopen.
http://www.kcra.com/news/10363829/detail.html
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