MHPD Cpl. Ray Ramos checks out a smoking manhole on West Dunne Avenue next to Valero gas station after two underground transformers blew Thursday evening.
Drivers on Dunne Avenue, portions of Butterfield Boulevard and Monterey Road ran into difficulties Thursday evening after blown transformers knocked out power to traffic signals on the city's east side.
Residents in the area of the intersection at Monterey Road and Dunne Avenue reported an explosion and sparks coming from a manhole cover on West Dunne Avenue next to the Valero gas station. A witness reported the explosion blew the cover into the air approximately six inches before it settled down, slightly askew. Smoke continued to stream from the manhole for some minutes after the underground transformers blew.
Morgan Hill police directed traffic and placed cones at the intersections where the lights out, and Department of Public Works placed barricades to slow down traffic at some intersections.
One minor accident happened at the intersection of San Pedro Avenue and Butterfield Boulevard, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. Shane Palsgrove, but no one was injured.
PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson said approximately 4,400 customers lost power at 6:10 p.m. Power was restored to customers in chunks, he said, with 700 restored by 7 p.m., another 700 at 7:50 p.m., 2,400 by 8 p.m. and all the rest, except for four, were restored by 11 p.m.
Swanson said it is not clear if the heat caused the equipment failure.
"We have had a few heat related outages, but nothing like in 2006 when we had 10 straight days of unprecedented heat," he said. "If it lasts a day or two, our system holds up well. We are asking our customers to conserve energy, to try not to use heavy appliances between the peak use hours of noon and 6 p.m."
Keeping air conditioning set at 78 degrees or higher, health permitting, using ceiling fans to cool and closing drapes or blinds to keep out the sun also helps conserve.
"We have also upgraded a lot of our equipment in the South County since '06, added transformers in a lot of areas to share the load with existing transformers and upgraded transformers to handle more capacity. Those efforts have increased reliability."
Marilyn Dubil Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or send her an email.
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