Power outage caused by tree falling onto power line across from Saratoga High School; electricity restored for some

Correction: The tree slammed into a transformer, not a power line. The error was caused by miscommunication between the writers and the sources. 

 

Update (10:34 p.m.): School may be cancelled, though unlikely, according to Assistant Principal Kerry Mohnike. 

 

Update (10:12 p.m.): PG&E website now says there are three outages affecting 88 customers. 

 

Update: Assistant Principal Kerry Mohnike: “Probably [will be school] … It's too soon to tell” if school will be canceled.

 

Multiple power outages that affected approximately 3,639 Saratoga PG&E customers occurred at roughly 7:52:33 p.m., according to PG&E, though some students said the first outage occurred earlier. The outages were caused by a falling tree during the storm, which may have caused a transformer to explode, setting a tree on fire. The incident occurred on Herriman Avenue. 

According to multiple Saratoga residents, power was restored at around 8:53 p.m., though some residents still do not have power. 

The field lights shut off suddenly, said sophomore Anant Rajeev, who was playing soccer on the turf at the time. 

“All I could see across the street was a series of multicolored sparks emitting straight from the power line,” he said. 

Rajeev heard another explosion, turned back around and saw a tree collapse onto the power line. 

“Sparks went flying all at once — [and] all the house lights went off,” he said. 

Firefighters arrived on the scene within five minutes of the first explosion.

Senior Jason Li, who was at school for Speech and Debate, said that the lights flickered on and off in the classrooms. 

“The lights in [teacher Erick] Rector’s room turned off for 10 seconds and then came back on,” Li said. “30 seconds later, they went off again.”

When Li headed over to the English Palace, the halls were all dark. 

“I thought [the transformer exploded] figuratively,” Li said. “Blew up as in shut down.” 

Furthermore, Li said he saw a tree on fire. As he walked in front of the library, he saw a “ball of flame and a bright orange yellow flash”. 

“Like BAAM,” Li said. “Apparently, the tree exploded, and it was still burning [as the] rain continued.”

At this point, it is unclear whether there will be school tomorrow. An email to principal Paul Robinson went unreturned. 

 

PG&E Outage map: http://www.pge.com/myhome/customerservice/outages/