On a day that a heat wave pushed temperatures into the 90s in the San Fernando Valley, roughly 6,500 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers lost electricity Monday in the Valley Glen and Sherman Oaks areas due to possible explosions in underground electrical vaults.
Firefighters were sent to the 6000 block of North Fulton Avenue about 10 a.m. in response to reports of one or more possible explosions in underground electric vaults, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
No fire was found, but some smoke was reported in the area, the LAFD reported. Overhead media footage from the scene showed one manhole cover had blown off.
No injuries were reported. Authorities fielded several calls about stuck elevators in the outage area, according to the LAFD.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews were sent to handle the outage. As of mid-afternoon, the DWP reported 6,500 customers were affected by the outage, and there was no immediate estimate on when power would be restored.
Originally published July 12, 2021 at 12:31 p.m. / Updated July 12, 2021 at 3:56 p.m. with number of residents without power. In previous version, underground electrical vaults were referred to as underground transformers.
