UC Berkeley Explosion, Fire Said To Be Result Of Vandalism

The UC Berkeley Explosion and fire that happened Monday at 6:30 PM PST was said to have resulted from a theft of copper wire that occurred over the weekend. According to a number of sources, and on Twitter, the explosion happened below California Hall on campus. Students were asked to leave the grounds immediately. But 20 who were trapped on elevators because of a power outage were rescused two hours later, at 8:30 PM. The power went out at 4:40 PM, but the fireworks happened after crews tried to turn the power on again. "Essentially there was a massive fireball that erupted," Colin Ho, a UC Berkeley Student said to NBC Bay Area. "The fireball was two times the height of the building, and everyone just got the hell out of there."

Uh oh. Stay safe guys. "@2kdei: There was just a huge explosion on campus #cal #ucberkeley campus police evacuating pic.twitter.com/RP26AChJlj"

— ~^~LILITHI§Ri§en\Δ/ (@RenagadeGirl) October 1, 2013

RT @Eric_Rasmussen: Per #UCBerkeley spokesman: power outage explosion may have been caused by "ongoing act of vandalism" and copper theft

— KTVU (@KTVU) October 1, 2013

There were three sent to the hospital for non-fatal injuries. As of this writing there's no decision on the reopening of Cal, and that will not happen until 5 AM PST.

@lartoven @dailycal @UCPD_Cal @UCBerkeley Decision expected by 5am: http://t.co/zCcAw1E4An

— Berkeleyside (@berkeleyside) October 1, 2013

Stay tuned.