PG&E Says Making Repairs After Third Party Work Damages Towers In Burlingame

(RTTNews) - Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a subsidiary of PG&E Corp. (PCG), said Saturday that its crews worked through the night, and continue to work this morning, to make repairs to three transmission towers and related electrical equipment damaged by a third party doing construction work Friday night adjacent to Highway 101 in Burlingame.

Based on the amount of damage caused by the third-party contractor, and the repairs required, Pacific Gas and Electric Company or PG&E and the California Highway Patrol anticipate re-opening Highway 101 by approximately 5 p.m. today.

As a result of the 9:30 p.m. incident impacting the towers, high-voltage power lines fell onto the highway, city streets and a pedestrian walkway. The damaged towers and fallen power lines stopped north- and southbound traffic on Highway 101 for several hours after the incident. Also, the incident caused a flicker or momentary outage on the Peninsula and in parts of San Francisco.

PG&E worked with first responders, including the CHP and local police and fire agencies, during the incident to make the area safe, resulting in no injuries. The CHP ordered occupants in several vehicles to shelter in place until PG&E could de-energize and ground the wires and make the area safe.

PG&E had electric first responders on site within 10 minutes of the accident, and additional resources and crews from across Northern California were dispatched to the scene. Specialized equipment, personnel and vehicles are integral for a repair job of this magnitude on a primary artery of the electric system.

PG&E activated its incident command and two PG&E Mobile Command Vehicles were dispatched to manage PG&E's response.

PG&E noted that it will need to repair or replace the damaged towers before restringing and energizing the wires.