A transformer caught fire Sunday afternoon at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation in East Oakland, cutting power to tens of thousands of people across the East Bay.
About 25 firefighters from the Oakland Fire Department responded at about 1 p.m. to the blaze at a PG&E substation near 50th Avenue and Coliseum Way, near the Oakland Coliseum, according to Michael Hunt, an Oakland fire spokesman.
Fire crews arrived to find brown-gray smoke emanating from the PG&E yard, and once inside, realized that a transformer was burning, said James Bowron, an Oakland fire battalion chief. Once assured that the area was no longer electrified, fire crews managed to use a dry chemical fire extinguishing substance to extinguish the flame. The fire was brought under control about an hour and a half after crews were called to the scene.
