Manhole explodes in downtown, filling streets with smoke
Staff report
July 6, 2009
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| PG&E crews looks down a manhole where an underground explosion was reported on Fourth Street at Market Street on Monday morning. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — An underground explosion in a manhole on a busy downtown corner filled nearby streets with smoke this morning.
The explosion was reported shortly after 10 a.m. near the Ross clothing store on Fourth Street near Market Street. It didn’t pop off the manhole lid, San Francisco fire Lt. Mindy Talmadge said.
The Ross store lost power after the explosion, PG&E spokesman Joe Molica said. The preliminary cause of the fire is believed to be a failed network protector, which protects the electrical network from voltage fluctuation, he said.
At least one building in the area appeared to have been evacuated and crowds of people had gathered along Market Street after the explosion. Fourth Street was closed to traffic between Market and Mission streets and Muni lines 30, 45, and 9X were rerouted south of Post Street until shortly before noon, according to Muni spokesman Judson True.
There were no reports of injuries.
