Healdsburg residents lose power after small fire near electrical substation

Residents across Healdsburg lost power Tuesday afternoon after a small grass fire ignited near an electrical substation where PG&E crews were at work, according to city officials.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the 10-foot-by-10-foot blaze off Canary Court at around 2 p.m., according to the Healdsburg Fire Department.

PG&E crews are replacing wooden power poles along a transmission line on Fitch Mountain this week and were conducting routine switching on Tuesday or switching the power from one line to another to conduct the work safely. A piece of equipment on the line malfunctioned and caused the power failure just before 2 p.m., PG&E spokesperson Deanna Contreras said in a news release.

The equipment was located near Healdsburg’s Badger Substation off Herron Drive and therefore affected about 2,738 homes and businesses that are served by that PG&E transmission line, she said. Additional customers may have experienced a momentary power failure, lasting less than one minute, during the switching.

Crews restored power to customers within 45 minutes. All PG&E customers in Geyserville, Healdsburg and Cloverdale had power restored by 2:40 p.m., according to Contreras.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian.