ENB Pub Note: This week, the City of Oklahond went into a full emergency with a ransomware attack, and city services were pushed into a state of emergency. Coincidence? Your thoughts?
OAKLAND — A massive power outage darkened homes and businesses across a wide swath of Oakland on Sunday afternoon.
Oakland fire officials tweeted that the blackout was triggered by a fire at a substation.
“Oakland Fire is currently responding to a Fire at the PG&E substation near 50th Avenue and Coliseum Way. PG&E reports approximately 50K customers in the City of Oakland may be impacted by this outage.”
Oakland fire spokesman Michael Hunt told KPIX at 2:46 p.m. that “a transformer exploded at the PGE substation at 50th Ave. and Coliseum Way. The fire is now out but PGE is now starting to make repairs to restore power.”
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. PG&E officials said they expected crews to restore power by 3:30 p.m.
The power outage also bled over into Alameda’s residential grid and it disrupted traffic access to the island community through its three drawbridges.
Alameda Municipal Power officials said the issue was with a PG&E transmission line.
“AMP is experiencing a major outage due to a PG&E transmission outage. We are attempting to determine cause and when power will be restored. We appreciate your patience and will update as more information is know,” the officials said.
The outage was impacting the three bridges heading on the island. The Posey and Webster tubes were the only ways to enter and exit Alameda.
Power also was off at Oakland International Airport, shutting down some of the the security checkpoints. It was not immediately known if flights into the facility were being impacted.
Oakland Airport terminal 1-Power Outage pic.twitter.com/nP23lU4Ve0
— MarcM (@siempretrucha) February 19, 2023
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