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An underground electrical fire in downtown Long Beach on Wednesday dislodged manhole covers and knocked out power to about 4,000 Southern California Edison customers.
The fire broke out around 3 p.m. Police closed Third Street between Cedar and Magnolia avenues and advised people to avoid the area and remain indoors, noting that the fire was forcing manhole covers and debris into the air.
Fire crews doused the fire, but the blaze knocked out power to about 4,000 customers, according to Edison. There was no immediate estimate of when service would be restored.
Officials said the outage affected customers between Seventh Street and the ocean, between Magnolia and Alamitos avenues.
The Aquarium of the Pacific was among the businesses affected. It announced late in the afternoon it was closing for the night.
— City News Service