Petroleum leak disrupts Burlingame businesses with power outages

Burlingame Businesses Reopen After Power Outages

BURLINGAME, Calif. (KGO) — Stores reopened on Thursday after a challenging week along Burlingame’s Broadway corridor.

PG&E crews found a petroleum product leaking into underground electrical vaults on Wednesday. This leak damaged equipment and caused multiple power outages over the past five days.

The process to restore power has been difficult. PG&E provided generators, but businesses had to hire private electricians for checks before the utility could connect them.

“To be able to certify that it’s okay to turn on the power and use the generators so we don’t have explosions,” said John Kevranian of the Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District.

This requirement delayed power restoration for merchants like Lucy Dul of Burlingame LaGuna Florist. Dul has a big event on Friday that she needs to prepare for, even in the dark.

“It’s a mom and pop shop. We’re not a big corporation where we can find a way to support our staff and our overhead payment,” said Dul.

To assist businesses, representatives of the Burlingame Business Improvement District plan to ask their board to subsidize the costs.

This support would benefit restaurant owner Calvin Wang, who reports losing thousands of dollars over the past five days.

“At least $12,000. With the employees’ salaries and the waste of the food and the revenue,” said Wang.

PG&E continues to extract the petroleum product from the vaults and identify its source. They state it is not a substance they use with their equipment.

Meanwhile, Broadway businesses look forward to returning to normal operations. “I just hope it won’t happen again,” said Wang.