Pole Fire Triggers Sunnyvale Power Outage

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA -- A pole fire involving power lines Thursday morning in Sunnyvale knocked out power for more than two hours to 1,200 customers and forced the closure of a section of Reed Avenue, according to PG&E and the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

Mayra Tostado, spokeswoman for PG&E, said the outage began at 6:08 a.m. and power was restored by 8:12 a.m. According to Tostado, crews on the scene reported that a pole at Reed Avenue and E. Sequoia caught fire.

Sunnyvale DPS officials sent an alert at 6:28 a.m. that Reed Avenue was closed in all directions between East Evelyn Avenue and Reed Terrace. The closure was due to the pole fire, officials said, but "thanks to the quick work of Sunnyvale fire crews and PG&E," all lanes were reopened just before 7:30 a.m. and traffic signals in the area were back in service.

Initially, the PG&E website showed the outage affected more than 2,000 customers, but according to Tostado, that was not an accurate number.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report

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