Explosion forces shoppers to evacuate market; no one hurt

Sue Doyle

An explosion underneath Gelson’s Market on Thursday evening filled

the Corona del Mar store with heavy smoke and forced shoppers outside.

An underground electrical short is most likely the cause of the 7:15

p.m. explosion, said Lt. John Blauer of the Newport Beach Fire and Marine

Department. Authorities are investigating the incident with Southern

California Edison.

The force of the explosion ripped off a metal plate that covered the

electrical equipment and flung it into the parking lot. There were no

injuries reported.

The blast created quite a commotion for people inside the store, in

the 1600 block of San Miguel Drive.

Firefighters evacuated the grocery store and traced the smoke to a hot

electrical panel. Authorities said the smoke entered the market through

the panel.

Electricity was cut off to the nearby areas at San Miguel and San

Joaquin Hill drives while authorities checked for the cause of the

explosion.

Things returned to normal around 8:45 p.m. after the smoke cleared.

There is no estimate on how much it will cost to repair the damage.