Explosions Rock South Redondo

A pair of explosions rocked South Redondo Beach on Thursday evening, causing a power outage and scattering concrete debris into the street.

According to authorities at the scene, two transformers—one on the east side of the street and one on the west side—blew on Catalina Avenue between Diamond and Carnelian streets at about 7:20 p.m.

"It blew up ... basically blew out huge concrete chunks," according to Sgt. Fabian Saucedo of the Redondo Beach Police Department. "Everyone west of Catalina was pretty much blacked out."

Nobody was injured; however, firefighters did respond to the incident.

"There was a lot of smoke coming out from both sides ... but I didn't see any fire," Saucedo said.

Power outages were reported at the International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach City Hall and along Catalina Avenue; however, power was restored to the majority of customers within two hours, according to Saucedo.

According to a representative of Southern California Edison, 4,779 customers were affected by the outage, which was caused by failed underground equipment near the intersection of Catalina Avenue and Diamond Street.

Power was restored within a couple of hours for the majority of customers; the lights were back on for all customers by 4:15 a.m. Friday.

A public works employee at the scene said a transformer on the west side of Catalina Avenue in the same general blew out last year, too. It wasn't immediately clear if it was the same transformer that blew Thursday night.