San Francisco

Transformer Fire in SF Prompts Brief Shelter in Place

A transformer fire in San Francisco's Central Richmond neighborhood caused fire officials to briefly order a shelter in place for residents Thursday evening.

The transformer fire was reported at 15th Avenue and Geary Boulevard at 7:06 p.m., fire officials said.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and no injuries were reported.

The shelter in place order was lifted about 20 minutes later, however streets in the area remained closed, according to fire spokesman Jonathan Baxter.

PG&E is responding to the scene. Dozens of residents in the area without power, according to PG&E's website.

Earlier Thursday evening, firefighters responded to a separate, unrelated fire at an underground electrical vault fire at 20th Avenue and Taraval Street. That began at around 5:10 p.m., Baxter said.

PG&E also responded to that fire, which has been extinguished and did not cause any injuries.

Baxter said that fire may have been caused by overheated materials or by trash that caught fire.

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