2000 gallons of molten deep-frying grease, enough to cover a transformer the size of a small car, filled an underground vault powering a Palo Alto office building. This was the result of decades of illegal dumping by nearby restaurants into what they believed was a storm sewer, but was actually a transformer vault maintained by City of Palo Alto Utilities. The heat from the million-watt transformer kept the grease molten, creating a severe fire hazard.

Police determined the grease originated from nightly restaurant waste disposal. The vault's top was well-ventilated due to transformer heat, but the underground location and constant grease influx created a volatile situation. Last night, power was cut, the grease was pumped out, and the vault was cleaned, averting a potential disaster.

The incident highlights the hidden infrastructure risks and the dangers of improper waste disposal near critical electrical equipment. Today's menu notably lacked fried fish.