Berkeley City power outage affecting parts of University campus
The power should be restored by 12:45pm PST
UPDATE 12:30pm: the power is back on at Berkeley campus.
Berkeley City is experiencing a power outage that’s affecting parts of the University campus after a power transformer exploded this morning.
Parts of the Southside are out and a number of traffic lights have also stopped working – drivers, take note.
A representative from the Public Affairs office at the University said the campus was only partially affected. She said: “It’s an PG & E power outage but not everywhere’s affected – our office is fine, a lot of places seem to be fine”.
Junior Rita Chuang, Chemistry major, said: “I was in life science addition, in my pesticide chemistry and toxicology class. The professor was using a projector and lights were on. That’s how I scientifically concluded that there’s power on campus”.
Sign in the entry way of ADPi sorority
According to Mercury News, the transformer explosion and fire knocked out power to parts of Berkeley, Richmond and El Cerrito.
The outage has reportedly affected more than 38,000 customers and no BART trains are stopping at downtown Berkeley station as a result.
According to Mercury News, the subsequent fire caused students at nearby Casa Cerrito Preschool, 6927 Portola Drive, to be evacuated and taken to a community center where they were told to shelter in place, an official said.
El Cerrito fire units were still on the scene as of 10:50 a.m.
PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian told the Daily Cal the outage affected the city south on Telegraph Avenue and north into the Berkeley Hills.
It’s still unclear what caused the outage, though it’s expected to be resolved at 12:45 p.m, and its cause is still being assessed.
The outages have been also been reported in North Berkeley, and elevator rescues have been reported on the BPD scanner, including one at 2424 Shattuck Ave.