SF's Drizzly Weather Leads to Power Outages
Pacific Gas and Electric crews are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast for Wednesday evening to see if conditions that led to a series of power-pole fires and outages in San Francisco and the Peninsula will re-occur.
Poles in San Francisco's Western Addition, Bernal Heights, and South of Market neighborhoods, along with one in South San Francisco, caught fire overnight leading to several outages.
The heavy fog and drizzle the region experienced mixed with dust and pollution that's collected on the power lines and poles. That mixture prompted an extra electrical current that shot up to the top of the poles, igniting several small fires.
PG&E spokesman Joe Molica tells KCBS that the private San Francisco based utility plans to clean off the build-up before the first rain after the summer months.
"Even a light sprinkle is usually enough to wash those lines off, but if we have heavy drizzle like we did last night, it causes a specific set of circumstances that unfortunately causes outages," Molica.
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A blown transformer near the intersection of Scott and McAllister Streets by Alamo Square temporarily left about 6,000 customers in the dark, but they were back online by 6 a.m. with the help of the underground grid.
In SOMA crews had to shut off power at Bryant Street for a time in order to try to fix the problem.
