At about 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday (June 27), there was a fire in an electrical cabinet serving the linear accelerator at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Power to the cabinet was de-energized by SLAC and the fire was then put out by the Menlo Park Fire Department. The fire was extinguished by approximately 10:30 p.m. There were no injuries and the fire did not pose a threat to the community.

The cabinet was located in the 2-mile Klystron Gallery building (on top of the linear accelerator) underneath the Interstate 280 overpass. The fire created large quantities of smoke that issued out of the Klystron Gallery windows and doors and affected traffic on both directions of Interstate 280, but the smoke was eliminated once the area was de-energized and the fire was extinguished.

Accelerator operations were interrupted, temporarily shutting down the Linac Coherent Light Source and Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests. Assessment and recovery of operations were underway late Thursday.

Other SLAC buildings and areas, including the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, were not affected by the fire and remained operational at the time of the incident.

Updates will be posted on the SLAC Emergency Information page as needed.