Worker hurt in electrical vault blast had cut through power line, Edison says

Southern California Edison said Thursday that a worker who was hospitalized Monday after an incident in an electrical vault in Newport Beach had cut through a power line, causing a “catastrophic failure of the energized cable.”

The worker was in the vault at about 3 p.m. when it exploded and sent flames shooting into the air, according to police.

The Newport Beach Fire Department cordoned off the area in the 3400 block of Via Lido and evacuated nearby businesses, according to police Lt. Jeff Brouwer.

Edison shut down power in the area, and it was restored by Tuesday morning, the company said.

Paramedics took the injured worker to a trauma center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, Brouwer said.

Another person was treated at the scene for minor burns and was not taken to the hospital, Brouwer said.

—Jeremiah Dobruck