A major power outage caused by a fire at a substation shut down Oakland Airport in northern California Sunday night.
More than 50,000 customers in the Bay Area were affected and flights out of the area were halted after a fire broke out at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation around 1 p.m.
Photos and videos posted on social media show stranded passengers at the airport waiting at their gates and having to pass through security, which was closed for hours.
A representative from PG&E confirmed the widespread outage on Twitter just after 2:50 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and saying they are “currently investigating the details”.
The cause of the outage is currently unknown. The incident comes as a number of substations across the United States were attacked by individuals intent on wreaking havoc on the power system.
Photos and videos posted on social media show stranded passengers at the airport waiting at their gates and having to pass through security, which was closed for hours
A chief of the Oakland Fire Battalion said Sunday the fire is being investigated by PG&E
Shortly after 3:00 p.m., an Oakland Fire Department battalion commander confirmed that the fire had been extinguished and that PG&E officials were working to determine a cause.
“Around one o’clock this afternoon, we were called about a fire coming from the PG&E yard,” the battalion commander said, speaking to local media.
“We were able to gain access to the PG&E yard and found an active transformer burning there,” the Oakland Fire official said called.
PG&E officials need to “really look at all of the equipment” before a cause can be determined.
However, the damage was already done as hundreds of passengers were stuck at their gates and waiting in the security line due to the outage.
A video shared by a Twitter user named Matt Ashlock shows passengers standing still as security lines remain all but empty.
Arriving passengers also found that baggage claim was unavailable, causing even more congestion at the Northern California airport.
Just before 3pm, Ashlock tweeted that the machines at security appeared to be running again and the line had started moving again.
It is currently unclear how many flights were affected by the cancellation.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit also suspended service to and from the airport on Sunday due to the outage, but resumed a few hours later.
The substation fire at the 50th x Colosseum is now out at 11pm. Please check the PG&E Outage Map at https://t.co/Cd7qhZjkMo for the latest status updates and recovery schedules. No hazmat concerns or evacuations are required. No more updates. pic.twitter.com/SPm6kTTTUt
— Oakland Fire Department (CA) (@OaklandFireCA) February 19, 2023
This is a map of the Bay Area showing how many customers are without power after a fire at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation
Passengers stood still at Oakland Airport on Sunday afternoon
This was the Sunday afternoon security line at Oakland Airport
This is the Oakland substation where a fire broke out Sunday afternoon
Passengers waited for hours while officials worked to restore power to the airport
The outages impacted more than 50,000 people in the Bay Area throughout the day
This is the tweet from PG&E officer Tamar Sarkissian telling customers the matter is under investigation
In a tweet published Sunday afternoon, Tamar Sarkissian, PG&E’s corporate relations representative, said she and her team are looking into it.
“#Oakland: We are aware of the major outage in Oakland affecting approximately 50,000 customers. We are currently investigating the details and will provide more information as soon as possible at the time of the restoration,” she wrote.
However, Twitter users didn’t take her message well, calling out the local electrical company for “terrible gear.”
‘Why does your equipment always catch fire?’ replied a Twitter user.
“Your equipment always catches fire. They should be shut down and made a public utility,” another person wrote.
It’s still unclear whether Sunday’s incident was a targeted attack, but there have been multiple attacks on substations across the US in recent months
In the past three months, at least nine substations in North Carolina, Washington and Oregon have disrupted power to thousands of customers.
The attacks are worrying for those in states and territories where a lack of power could be deadly.
In December, unknown assailants attacked two substations in Moore County, North Carolina, where about 45,000 people lost power.
Some customers were without power for up to five days.
Just a few weeks later, another attack occurred in Randolph County, North Carolina.
Eight power plant attacks have been recorded in Washington and near Oregon in the last few weeks, prompting them to come under FBI scrutiny
Four power plants in Washington state were attacked within hours on Christmas Day
Workers in Tacoma were seen repairing a substation that was attacked over Christmas
In Washington state, two men were charged just after the New Year for attacking four power plants over Christmas, leaving thousands in the dark and cold over the holiday.
The two men planned the attacks as a diversionary tactic so they could break into a local store, law enforcement officials said afterwards.
There were six substation attacks between Washington and Oregon between mid-November and December 2022.
The escalating number of attacks has prompted some lawmakers to sound the alarm about the security of substations across the country.
In states like North Carolina, South Carolina and Arizona, bills have been proposed in recent weeks that would require 24-hour security at power plants or harsh penalties for assaults.