A massive power outage left more than 26,000 Southern California Edison customers without electricity Sunday night across several Long Beach neighborhoods, with thousands still without power Monday morning.

The outage began around 6:40 p.m. Sunday, August 23, after an underground electrical vault caught fire on Broadway near Newport Avenue in the Bluff Heights area. Long Beach firefighters extinguished the fire, and Southern California Edison crews de-energized the line.

The outage initially affected 26,626 customers, according to the Edison outage map. Among the areas impacted were Alamitos Beach, Bluff Park, Bluff Heights and Belmont Shore, although power loss varied throughout the affected neighborhoods.

The outage couldn’t have come at a worse time. Long Beach reached 93 degrees Sunday as Southern California entered another stretch of extreme summer heat, leaving thousands of residents without air conditioning or fans for hours.

Power remained out throughout the night for many residents. By 6 a.m. Monday, 16,456 customers were still without electricity, according to Edison, with restoration estimated for around noon.

The blackout also caused problems beyond the loss of electricity. Car break-ins and business break-ins were reported overnight in affected areas, while Long Beach police responded to incidents as residents and businesses dealt with dark streets and storefronts.

Southern California Edison crews continued working Monday morning to restore service to the remaining customers.