PG&E works to restore power to Richmond residents
RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Utility crews are busy trying to get power back on for many East Bay residents hit hard by the storm.
Contra Costa Community College is among those experiencing an outage. Classes have been canceled all day.
MORE: Here's a look at some of the wettest spots around the Bay Area Friday morning
It's raining lightly in Richmond but the issue in Point Richmond is the power pole. Earlier Friday morning, the top of the pole snapped in half because of a fire that happened.
There was some residue that built up on the transformer, which became conductive with the rain and became a fire.
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The fire department said they just had to let it burn until PG&E came in and turned off the power to make it safe for crews.
"There was a pole fire that burnt for a significant amount of time on the high-voltage power line. Now the power line is unsecure and it goes over the railroad tracks, which we had to shut down the railroad for PG&E to mitigate the problem," Richmond Fire Dept. Batt. Chief Marcus Rayon said.
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PG&E says they won't have the power back on and the streets reopened until about 6 p.m.
Had it been raining harder, the dust around the transformers would have been washed away.
Several businesses in the area are closed because of the power outage.
Be sure to download the ABC7 News App to track the rain with Live Doppler 7 HD as it moves into the Bay Area.
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