South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa experiences power outage on Black Friday

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Costa Mesa mall has power outage on Black Friday
South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa experienced a power outage in the midst of Black Friday shopping.

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- Black Friday shoppers got more than they bargained for at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

An underground electrical vault exploded causing a power outage in part of the mall Friday at 2 p.m.

Smoke and a fiery explosion coming from a manhole were captured on video.

Mall officials said the partial power outage was caused by SoCal Edison equipment affecting one area of the center.

"Power has been restored to a part of South Coast Plaza that experienced an outage. We are thankful to Southern California Edison for their speedy and efficient work on the issue and to the Costa Mesa Fire and Police Departments for their assistance," said Debra Gunn Downing, spokeswoman for South Coast Plaza.

A video posted on Twitter showed mall officials keeping people away from the area.

There were no injuries reported and the mall remained open.