A late-evening transformer fire in San Francisco’s Richmond District cut power to thousands of people last night, leaving parts of the Richmond, Golden Gate Park, and the Presidio in the dark. Fire crews quickly put out the blaze near 12th Avenue and Balboa Street, and utility teams worked into the night to restore service, with most customers back on the grid within a few hours. The outage hit less than a week after a major substation fire that had already disrupted large swaths of the city last Saturday.
Transformer Fire and Fast Response
The San Francisco Fire Department told KTVU that units were dispatched at about 7:45 PM for reports of a sparking transformer at 12th Avenue and Balboa Street. Crews arrived in roughly five minutes and doused the flames. City officials said there were no reported injuries or structural damage at the scene, and PG&E crews stayed on-site to assess equipment and begin repairs.
How Many Customers Lost Power
PG&E and news reports put the outage footprint at roughly 11,000 customers across the west side and nearby park areas, and the utility told reporters that crews had largely restored service within a few hours. As reported by Reuters, PG&E stated that the interruption began at approximately 7:45 PM and was largely resolved by around 10:15 PM.
Generators and Neighbors’ Frustration
The unplanned outage landed just as PG&E had been preparing a planned switch to move Richmond customers off temporary diesel generators that were installed after last week’s substation blaze. Local reporting from NBC Bay Area noted that PG&E offered temporary hotel stays and other assistance for some nearby households. Neighborhood Hoodline coverage highlighting residents’ complaints about noise and fumes from the diesel generators underscored how disruptive the stopgap power source has been.
Why the Outages Matter
Last Saturday’s substation fire left roughly a third of the city without power at its peak, snarled transit and forced many businesses to close, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The back-to-back incidents have put a microscope on equipment reliability and on the logistics of relying on temporary generators while crews repair damaged substations.
PG&E posts live outage information on its online outage map, and customers with questions can call the company’s hotline at 1-800-743-5000, local outlets noted. City officials reminded drivers to treat dark intersections as four-way stops and to reserve 911 for life-safety emergencies. The city said it was continuing to monitor restoration efforts and would share updates as they become available through local news partners and official city channels.
