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San Francisco fire officials describe four-hour underground vault blaze, cite PG&E DC-cable failure
Summary
Deputy Chief Patrick Gardner said the June 5 manhole vault fire burned for more than four hours, involved mineral oil (no PCBs reported), and exposed miscommunication about power shutdowns; PG&E said it will retire the city's DC system and is reviewing acceleration of that schedule.
Deputy Chief Patrick Gardner of the San Francisco Fire Department on July 17 summarized the June 5 underground vault fire at Van Ness and O'Farrell, saying first responders faced heavy smoke and a multi-agency response that lasted into the early morning.
Gardner said crews discovered fire inside a vault fed by two 9-by-12 vaults linked by a four-foot raceway and that mineral oil—not PCBs—was burning. "We sheltered people in place," Gardner said, and set up a unified command with police and other first responders to clear the area and protect surrounding buildings. He said an initial expectation that power was fully shut down proved incorrect: while some PG&E linemen reported DC power off, AC power remained energized, complicating firefighting tactics.
PG&E's Mark Johnson, vice president for electrical operations and engineering, addressed the council and said the utility accepts responsibility. Johnson said an investigation points to failure of DC cable components and reiterated a preexisting plan to retire the DC system in San Francisco, with a target completion by the end of the following year and consideration being given to accelerating that schedule.
Gardeners' and other officials described operational impacts: elevator outages in nearby buildings, alarm activations, and the need to call additional CO2 resources after the city's 3-ton truck depleted its supply. Gardner said a 7-ton truck from Sunnyvale eventually arrived and that the fire was not fully contained until about 3:15 a.m., more than four hours after crews arrived.
Officials described steps to prevent repeat problems: assigned battalion chief liaison to work with PG&E, joint training and a mock drill planned for August, improved on-scene command procedures to confirm power status, and planned system upgrades (PG&E noted a citywide DC replacement program through early 2010).
No formal motions or votes were taken. The council said an after-action report will be drafted and shared with partners to capture lessons about incident command, communications and process improvements.
