The vault vent that caught on fire. Photo by Sarah Bennett
A radius around the intersection of Pine Ave. and Broadway was closed for nearly an hour Wednesday afternoon after a small fire was found inside of a sidewalk-level electrical vault vent. At around 7PM, passerby smelled smoke coming from the cylindrical vent and flagged down a Long Beach Police Department officer who requested fire department assistance. At one point, police said, smoke was billowing out of the vent, blocking visibility on the busy intersection.
“We didn’t approach it until we saw a flame because we didn’t want to create an ignition by confining it in a small space,” said LBFD Captain Matt Block. “There could have been gas down there created from Class A combustables such as trash…Once we saw the flame, the fire was quickly put out.”
The vent connects to an underground vault operated by utility company Southern California Edison, who sent a represenatative to check out the damage. Aside from black soot on the exterior of the vent, damage appeared negligible and with the representative’s approval, the street and surrounding blocks were reopened and by 8PM traffic had resumed to normal.
Officers at the scene suspected that the culprit of the fire was a smoker who had possibly tossed a cigarette butt into one of the vent’s holes. Witnesses–including the man who initially notified officers of the possible fire–however, say that the sidewalk next to the vent was empty in the minutes before the fire was discovered.
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