Thousands without power, airport operations disrupted as major outage hits Oakland

A major outage caused by a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. substation left more than 50,000 Oakland residents without power and disrupted service at the city’s airport Sunday afternoon.

The outage started just before 1 p.m., and 48,507 customers remained without power as of 4 p.m., according to the utility’s outage map.

“We are currently investigating the details and will provide more information on the timing of restoration as soon as we can,” PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian tweeted at 3 p.m.

According to Oakland fire officials, the blackout was triggered by a fire at a substation near 50th Avenue and Coliseum Way. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The outage affected Oakland International Airport for at least two hours, with travelers describing delayed flights and snarled security lines, area news outlets reported. Power returned to the airport at 2:20 p.m., according to NBC Bay Area.

The outage has also affected part of Alameda, causing its three drawbridges to stop working and disrupting traffic access to the island, CBS Bay Area reported.