University students evacuated after explosion at Berkley campus The scene at the University of California's Berkley campus. STUDENTS have been evacuated from the University of California's Berkley campus after an explosion. There are fears students have been injured in the incident, which has caused a power outage. Berkeley Fire Department Chief Gil Dong said that he thought an underground electrical vault exploded about 6.40pm, The Daily Californian reports. Emergency responders included four ambulances, fire trucks and multiple police units. Firefighters at the scene of the campus blast. The campus is currently looking into an attempted theft of copper from the campus high-voltage system, which may have led to the outage, university officials said.