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Glitch Sparks Explosion, Fire At Walnut Creek Pumping Station

WALNUT CREEK (BCN) - The East Bay Municipal Utility District was trying to determine what caused an explosion and fire at a water pumping plant in Walnut Creek Monday morning, EBMUD spokesman Charles Hardy said.

The incident was reported at 7:09 a.m. at 1841 Geary Road, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman Lewis Broschard said.

Seventeen firefighters responded to the one-alarm blaze and police shut down Geary Road between Buena Vista Avenue and Hall Lane, authorities said.

KCBS' Bob Melrose Reports:

Broschard said firefighters had to confirm with PG&E that power to the plant was off before they could start putting water on it. They had the fire out by 7:57 a.m.

No injuries were reported and no other structures were threatened, Broschard said.

Although the blaze was initially reported as a transformer fire, Broschard said the problem actually involved switch gear used to transfer power from PG&E to EBMUD.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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