![[16:9 Featured] Power Lines](https://i0.wp.com/mynewsla-newspack.newspackstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MNLA_FilePhotos_OfficialsLAXUSC_0043_16-9.jpg?ssl=1)
Efforts continued Thursday afternoon to restore electrical service to thousands of Southern California Edison customers whose power was knocked out when three underground electrical vaults caught fire in downtown Long Beach.
The fires were reported about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, and initially cut power to around 4,800 customers, Edison said.
Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Jake Heflin said the vaults were beneath the 400 block of Third Street, and near the intersections of Pacific Avenue and 9th Street and Pine Avenue and Nardo Way.
No injuries were reported but the outage left large residential areas adjoining downtown businesses without power overnight.
About 10 a.m., authorities announced that restoration of service would require intermittent shutting off of all electricity for varying periods of time within substations in various parts of the following area: Cherry Avenue to the east, Willow Street to the north, the Long Beach (710) Freeway to the west, and Shoreline Drive to the south.
According to SCE spokesman David Song, more than 3,000 customers were without electricity as of mid-afternoon, but that number fluctuated as crews tested circuits and located faults.
Many businesses were closed and dozens of traffic signals were out, according to reports from the scene.
The work to restore service was “moving forward” throughout the affected power grid, Heflin told City News Service about 1 p.m.
It was not immediately known how long the repair work would take. An SCE spokesman told reporters in downtown Long Beach that outages could stretch into Friday.
About 1:15 p.m., Long Beach police announced the following street closures because of the outages: Ocean Boulevard between Magnolia and Pacific avenues; and Third Street between Magnolia and Cedar avenues.
— City News Service