NEWS
BREAKING…Chaos as four underground vaults erupt under San Francisco sparking mass power shut-off, shelter in place
Four underground vaults caught fire Thursday morning in San Francisco, prompting a shelter-in-place order in the city.
Crews responded to the scene around 6 a.m. along California Street and have already cleared the area.
Samuel Menchaca, a public information officer with the San Francisco Fire Department, said that there is no longer smoke or life-safety hazards on the street.
The Department of Emergency Management lifted the shelter in place order as of 10:15 a.m. Thursday, according to Menchaca.
The Fire Department received reports of smoke coming from multiple underground vaults, with smoke seen billowing into the streets.
No injuries have been reported.
There isn’t a cause for the fire yet, but PG&E is expected to investigate further, according to the Fire Department.
PG&E shut down additional power in the area, and a power outage was associated with the incident, according to NBC Bay Area.
The vaults are utility spaces underneath city streets that contain everything from electrical equipment, cables, transformers to telecommunications lines and other utility systems.
