San Francisco heat blamed for deaths, blackout

Residents seeking relief from record heat illegally opened about 50 hydrants

June 15, 2000
Web posted at: 9:19 p.m. EDT (0119 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- The record heat blamed for two deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area has led to the region's first "rolling" blackout.

One woman died after she and her husband waited in their car five hours for a tow truck that never came, police said.

The couple was found unresponsive in their car after it broke down Wednesday in Hayward -- a suburb east of San Francisco. Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees.

Maydel Mattos, 70, was declared dead at the scene. Her husband, Frank, 77, was hospitalized.

In Pleasanton, another suburb east of San Francisco, a couple visiting from Washington went out for a walk Wednesday afternoon. Cam Bo Tu, 73, and his wife started walking together, but the heat led her to turn back while he continued on.

CLIMATE IMPACT Some likely impacts of a 5 to 10 degree temperature increase in the U.S. over the next 100 years Climate change impact across the United States     RESOURCES North America Temperature Forecast     ALSO U.S. drought affects regions from Florida to Montana     MESSAGE BOARD Global climate Nature's wrath

About an hour later, a passer-by found Cam's body lying face down on a walkway.

Thursday afternoon, Pacific Gas & Electric began intermittently cutting off power in the Bay Area in a "rolling" blackout that affected 34,000 customers at a time -- mostly large businesses and home owners who volunteered in exchange for reduced utility rates.

Even though temperatures and demand for electricity had dropped, there was still a power shortage Thursday because several generators were down due to heat-related mechanical failure, a spokesman for the California Independent System Operator (ISO) said. ISO oversees electricity transmission for most of the state.

San Francisco temperatures plunged from 103 degrees on Wednesday to 81 degrees Thursday, just slightly above the norm, though inland residents continued to suffer through triple-digit heat.

While the rolling blackout inconvenienced some, PG&E said it saved the power system. But it was fog, rolling into the bay, that saved San Francisco by lowering the temperature.

Hayward police Sgt. Gary Branson said the Mattos couple had called AAA around 11:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) Wednesday. The company told police a tow truck was dispatched about 20 minutes later, but was sent to the wrong address, Branson said.

"Some passersby saw the couple in their car and offered them Pepsis to provide relief from the sweltering heat," Branson said. "They suggested they move to the shade, but the couple declined."

Late in the afternoon, a neighbor checked on the couple and saw that they appeared to have lost consciousness. Police arrived soon after, but were unable to resuscitate Maydel.

A spokeswoman for Saint Rose Hospital said Frank Mattos had suffered a heat stroke and was in stable condition.

Correspondent Don Knapp contributed to this report.

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