Underground Fire Blows Manhole Cover, Causes Blackout

A manhole cover blew from the ground Friday night near the intersection of Culver Boulevard and Centinela Avenue due to pressure built up by an underground fire that also caused a blackout in Del Rey for about a 20-block area, officials said.

There were no reports of injuries.

Two fire crews from Inglewood and Playa Vista were called out about 9 p.m. in response to the blown out manhole cover. The manhole cover blew out landing at least 40 feet from the hole because of a fire in the insulation and wiring under the roadway, according to fire personnel on scene.

The Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division station is across from where the cover landed.

Although there was an accident related to the incident, no one was injured and the Department of Water and Power was called out to make repairs.

It was the second night in a row residents in the Del Rey area were without power. There were intermittent power outages Thursday night until 6 a.m. reportedly because of a power station failure.