A man's body was recovered from an underground PG&E vault Tuesday in Richmond, according to fire officials, as police were investigating reports of a copper theft and explosions in the area.
The man apparently was electrocuted and caused a power outage, fire officials said. Police suspect the man was involved in a reported copper theft.
At about 2:30 a.m., officers responded to the area of Cutting Avenue and Second Street in Richmond on reports of someone stealing copper and subsequent explosions heard in the area, police said.
The reporting party said three men were seen at the scene, but only two were seen fleeing, police said.
A portion of South Second Street, between Cutting Boulevard and Maine Avenue, was closed while emergency crews responded, police said. The closure was expected to last up to four hours, according to a Nixle alert posted before 11 a.m. Motorists and residents should avoid the area.
PG&E says an outage sparked by the incident impacted 1,541 customers. Service was restored at 7:07 a.m., according to the utility. The vault also supplies power to the majority of downtown and south Richmond.
People who work in the area told NBC Bay Area they are sad but not surprised that this happened. They noted the area is known to have a lot of unhoused individuals and they often see them going into manholes like the one described.
“They are digging down there, they are actually making manholes and trying to get the wire, but they are also opening up the hole,” Martin Rickert, a nearby business owner. “It used to be they would take something and disappear but now, they are living there.”
Rickert said he’s witnessed and reported people going into the vault multiple times. In fact, he claims it happens almost daily.
Firefighters said they found no evidence of vandalism, but police suspect the man was involved in the reported copper theft.
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"It’s unfortunate that these things happen but I’m really not surprised because we are dealing with homeless trying to survive,” said Ricky Harrison, who works nearby.
Firefighters added recovering the man's body took hours because of the complicated layout of the vault where this all happened.
No other information was immediately available.
