Manhole Cover Goes Airborne In 'Explosion' Outside Jail

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – A loud noise late Wednesday afternoon outside the Santa Clara County main jail in San Jose was a failure of some PG&E equipment, a PG&E spokesman said.

The noise, which some may have described as an explosion, occurred at about 4:30 p.m. in the 800 block of North San Pedro Street and blew a manhole cover into the air.

PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said no one was injured but 90 customers lost power. The jail lost power until a generator kicked in, sheriff's Sgt. Reginald Cooks said.

Guidi said as of 6:45 p.m., all but one customer had power again.

The equipment that failed was a connector and will likely be repaired by about 10:30 p.m.

Deputies had surrounded the scene but have now left the area.

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Santa Clara County sheriff's officials and PG&E crews are responding to an underground explosion outside the county's Main Jail in San Jose.

The explosion happened at about 4:30 p.m. in the 800 block of North San Pedro Street, according to Sgt. Reginald Cooks. He said deputies have surrounded the scene of the explosion.

Sheriff Laurie Smith said the explosion had to do with PG&E property, but did not confirm what caused it.

Movements in and out of the jail are being limited to essential services like medical calls, according to Cooks, who said the power went down briefly at the jail until a generator kicked in.

About 15 deputies are present at the scene, in addition to PG&E crews.

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--Bay City News/PHOTO BY: Supriya Yelimeli, Bay City News Service