UC Berkeley explosion: 11 campus buildings remain closed

A group of 11 buildings at UC Berkeley remained without power Tuesday after an outage and explosion on campus the night before prompted an evacuation.

The explosion rocked the campus at 6:30 p.m. Monday, about two hours after a power system failure, said UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof. Four people suffered minor burns.

Mogulof said the blast and fire north of California Hall was probably caused by the theft of copper wire from an off-campus electrical system. That theft was discovered last week and reportedly repaired Sunday.

But Mogulof said, “The damage they caused may have been far more extensive than we originally thought.”

The 11 buildings not operational Tuesday afternoon were: Alumni House, Bancroft Library, California Hall, Central Heating Plant, Doe Library, Durant Hall, Dwinelle Hall, Dwinelle Annex, Edwards Track (east and west areas), Haas Pavilion and the EH&S Facility.

In a message to campus academics, Vice Provost Catherine Koshland said that “it is suggested that faculty make individual arrangements concerning any makeup or replacement of work. For faculty that have not made arrangements to move their classes, those class meetings will be canceled.”

Koshland also asked the academics for their “understanding and accommodation” of students who may have been affected or who may not be fully prepared for class.

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