Another gasoline leak forces closure of roads in Burlingame's Broadway corridor

BURLINGAME, Calif. (KGO) -- Businesses along Burlingame's Broadway corridor are seeing more setbacks after another gasoline leak was discovered Tuesday morning, forcing crews to shut down streets as they worked to fix the issue.

The leak was found in an underground electrical vault near California Drive and Broadway.

This comes just a week after PG&E crews discovered a petroleum product was leaking into their vaults, damaging equipment.

Crews say the latest leak is happening in an AT&T vault.

RELATED: Unknown petroleum product causing blackouts in Burlingame as businesses continue to struggle

Although businesses in the area are open, owners say the string of power outages and leaks has hit them hard.

"This is worse than COVID. We can't run a business, we can't make money, we can't pay the bills," said business owner John Kevranian. "All the money we made during the holidays is wiped out. Maybe we should have a state of emergency for the Broadway Burlingame district or the community. This is a catastrophe, a financial catastrophe."

The road closures have created some big headaches for people who live and work around this part of Burlingame.

Tuesday night, Broadway Avenue from Chula Vista to El Camino is open again. Part of California Drive is still closed

Preston's ice cream shop on Broadway Avenue in Burlingame is closed.

"We are very frustrated," said owner Javier Santiago. "I had to close early. There's no point paying two employees to be here for nothing. We don't make any money right now."

Santiago said customers have not stopped by his business because major streets around the Broadway Corridor are shut down.

"There's no parking; There's traffic. Everyone is so frustrated," said Santiago.

Santiago is one of more than 120 customers in Burlingame who have been on generator power since late last week.

City leaders say power had to be shut off to make repairs after a gasoline leak was found in PG&E's electrical vaults.

Then, as PG&E was about to restore power and move people off generators, leaked gasoline was found inside AT&T vaults underground.

"There was this gasoline leak. It's not PG&E's gasoline. It's coming from somewhere else. As PG&E was about to be finished, then there's gasoline in AT&T vaults. It's not AT&T gasoline. It's not PGE's gasoline. We are still trying to get things clean and clear and safe," said Lisa Goldman, Burlingame City Manager.

"This was a shock. We thought we were ready to reopen the streets. The generators were supposed to be taken out last night and power was going to go back on the grid. All of sudden, last night, they started closing the streets and it was a nightmare," said Kevranian.

Major roads were closed--including El Camino and Broadway.

Drivers were detoured to different parts of the city.

Kevranian explained what crews have been doing to remedy the issues.

"AT&T utility manholes are being drained right now--being sucked up by a truck. They have gasoline with fluids. AT&T came out last night and they're still not finished," said Kevranian.

City leaders say the cleanup is wrapping up and testing is underway

"County environmental health oversees any kind of cleanup activities," said Goldman. "County environmental health and PG&E and their contractors are testing the gasoline that was found."

Environmental health crews are investigating where the gasoline leak came from and how long the gasoline has been there.

According to the city manager, PG&E is starting to make final repairs.

There's still no word when California Drive and the rest of Broadway Avenue will reopen.