Update: Some power restored after two-alarm fire shutdown Sacramento substation
Firefighters on Tuesday quickly responded to a large two-alarm fire burning at a building housing a utility substation in downtown Sacramento.
The fire was burning at a Sacramento Municipal Utility District substation at Sixth and H streets. The was first reported abut 11:45 a.m., and the on-site fire caused “significant damage” to the substation, SMUD announced in a news release.
SMUD immediately de-energized the substation, which shut down electricity for about 1,300 SMUD customers in the downtown area. Based on the amount of damage at the substation, SMUD officials said power would not be restored Tuesday and recommended backup generators for those who have them.
In response to the outage, Sacramento Fire officials evacuated a high-rise senior apartment complex Tuesday night a block south of the substation and provided assistance to neighborhood residents with medical needs that required electricity. Those evacuated were sheltered overnight at City Hall and area motels.
“Most of downtown Sacramento is served by three networks from Station A,” SMUD wrote in a 10 p.m. Tuesday update. “One of the networks suffered significant damage, and the other two were de-energized to ensure public safety and are currently being examined for safety and fitness.”
SMUD in updates Wednesday morning said it re-energized one of the networks at 6:35 a.m., bringing power back for about 500 customers, and the second at 9 a.m., restoring power for 250. That left roughly 550 downtown customers still without electricity as of 11 a.m.
SMUD officials said those customers don’t appear on SMUD’s online outage map, because the downtown area is on a different network.
As a result of the outage, more than 100 residents remained without electricity Tuesday evening at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency’s Edgewater Senior Property at 626 I Street.
In an email to The Sacramento Bee, Rosaura Gonzalez, director of social services for LifeSTEPS, said some seniors at the apartments are bed-bound, unable to go down stairs and will not be able to go out in the community to buy a warm meal. Gonzalez said the Meals on Wheels organization helped connect her with Drewski’s food truck and catering, which provided warm meals for the entire property at no cost.
Radio traffic indicated firefighters waited for SMUD to confirm power equipment was de-energized before starting their attack on the fire. About 25 minutes after the fire started, firefighters said they were gaining control of the blaze.
A plume of smoke was visible across most of downtown after the fire broke out around 11:45 a.m. Multiple street lights went dark and fire dispatch logs indicated multiple calls for elevator assistance in the area.
The Sacramento Fire Department said there were no injuries reported. SMUD confirmed that all employees have been accounted for and there were no injuries reported. SMUD officials said the “root cause” of the fire was unknown and was being investigated.
Fire officials said power was out in a six-block radius around Sixth and H streets. SMUD crews were at the scene assisting firefighters.
Firefighters have contained a small fire on the interior of the building, while other firefighters were working on extinguishing the exterior fire in the SMUD substation yard, according to the Fire Department. Authorities closed H Street heading east from Sixth Street and Sixth Street heading north from I Street.
Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby warned people to avoid the downtown area as the Sacramento Fire Department responded to the blaze at the SMUD power substation. She said traffic lights are out on I and J streets, and several downtown businesses have lost power.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 12:17 PM.
