Electrical Vault Explodes Underground off Heathercliff, Causes Outages

Originally posted at 2:20 p.m. Oct. 22, 2014. Edited with new details.

An underground explosion in an electrical vault near Point Dume about noon today caused outages expected to last well into the evening.

The explosion occurred about noon near Pacific Coast Highway and Heathercliff Road, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

There were 2,848 customers were without power at the height of the outage triggered by the explosion, Robert Villegas of Southern California Edison said. By 3:45 p.m., only 541 customers were without power.

Some traffic lights in the area “were coming back on intermittently” about 3:15 p.m., Sgt. Vanessa Barnard of the sheriff’s Malibu/Lost Hills Station said.

Deputies directed traffic away from the vault where Edison crews were working to fix the problem.

By 5:30 p.m., the blown transformer had created a soft closure at Heathercliff Road and Pacific Coast Highway, with motorists only being allowed access into the Pavillions Shopping Center.

There was a hard closure at Heathercliff Road and Dume Drive. No vehicles will be allowed access to this area while Edison crews are working on repairs.

Lanes were also closed on Pacific Coast Highway between Heathercliff and Portshead roads.

--City News Service

PHOTO Courtesy the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

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