Two-day power outage paralyzes S.F.

Oakland Tribune, Dec 22, 2003 by Mielikki Org, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- Crews worked to restore power Sunday following a massive outage that snarled traffic, shut down two transit stations and, at its height, left a third of the city without electricity on one of the busiest shopping days of the holiday season.

By late Sunday, only about 4,000 customers were still without power, most in the city's downtown, said Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

The remaining blackout was affecting a fraction of the 125,000 customers who lost power about 6 p.m. Saturday when a PG&E substation caught fire, but the unrepaired outages were still enough to disrupt holiday shopping and other plans.

At Jeffrey's Toys, the powerless store remained closed Sunday, a disappointment to the store's manager and eager youngsters who passed by.

"Today could have been a $10,000 day," said manager Fatima Kioskoi. "Little children have been pressing their noses up to the glass wanting to buy toys. It's been very hard."

At the city's ornate War Memorial Opera House, the San Francisco Ballet canceled a matinee performance of the Nutcracker.

"All this afternoon, there were little kids weeping on the steps," said ballet General Manager Lesley Koenig.

The opera house remained without power, but later Sunday PG&E provided two generators that allowed the ballet to go on with a scheduled 5:30 p.m. performance, although it was delayed about 30 minuteswhile technicians made sure the machines were working.

PG&E officials said they hoped to restore power to all customers sometime Sunday night, although on Saturday they had predicted a far earlier restoration.

"It has taken a little bit longer. We've had to do some extensive cleaning, a little bit more than we thought," Franks said.

Environmental concerns also contributed to the delay. Workers going into the substation had to don protective clothing to guard against particles and fumes stirred up by the fire.

PG&E employees were evacuated from the substation, located at Mission and 8th streets, while firefighters put out the blaze, Franks said.

After the substation was reopened, PG&E engineers were able to restore power Saturday night to about half of the affected customers. Those customers were plunged back into darkness, however, when it was discovered the fire had not been fully contained and the substation had to be shut down again.

The cause of the fire and the power outage was still being investigated, Franks said.

"There's no indication that it was vandalism or sabotage. As far as the exact cause, we just don't know yet," he said.

The power outage forced early closures and evacuations at theaters, restaurants and shopping centers, including the Metreon complex on Mission Street.

Street lights stopped working, causing traffic problems throughout the city.

BART closed its Powell and Civic Center stations, but trains continued to run as usual, BART officials said.

Emergency dispatch officials said they did not receive an increase in reported incidents related to the blackout.

Three criminals may have taken advantage of the chaos of the citywide power outage night to rob a medical marijuana clinic.

Police responded to a robbery alarm at the Alternative Herbal Health Services clinic in the 400 block of Haight Street between Webster and Fillmore streets at 8:06 p.m. where three men, dressed all in black and wearing masks and armed with handguns, forced their way into the building.

They pistol-whipped at least one person inside the clinic.

The men stole cash and several items before fleeing on foot.

The robbers were last seen running on Haight Street towards Fillmore Street. It was unclear if any marijuana was stolen in the robbery.

The victim who was pistol-whipped refused medical treatment, police said.