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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Underground blaze darkens downtown

Akron buildings evacuated as crews put out fire in electric vault.
More outages possible today

By Jim Carney and Katie Byard Beacon Journal staff writers

Published on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007

It took until evening for First-Energy Corp. to restore limited power to downtown Akron buildings left in the dark after an underground fire Tuesday afternoon blacked out much of the central business district.

The utility said its workers may need to shut off power to some sections of downtown again today to complete repairs.

The outage began about 3 p.m., when FirstEnergy shut off power to about 300 downtown customers — mostly businesses — because of a fire that was discovered about 1:20 p.m. in an underground electrical vault on South Main Street near Canal Park stadium.

Power was out to most customers on South Main, from Market Street to the north to Exchange Street to the south, until about 6 p.m. Power also was out in some areas east to Broadway.
The Akron Fire Department evacuated buildings near the stadium, and Akron police directed traffic at several intersections where signals were out.

The knocked-out traffic lights and the crush of workers leaving darkened offices made for traffic backups.
The fire department received a report of black smoke coming through a sidewalk grate near the stadium at 1:22 p.m., said spokesman John W. Gordon.

As a precaution, the department evacuated four nearby buildings, including the one housing Bricco restaurant.

FirstEnergy spokeswoman Ellen Raines said the utility shut off power Tuesday so workers could safely enter the vault and put outthe fire.

She said Tuesday night that the fire damaged two circuits. Limited power was restored to all the affected customers by shifting them to an undamaged circuit.
However, she said, that circuit cannot supply adequate power for those customers' daytime activities.
She said Tuesday night that she did not know how long it would take to repair the damaged circuits.
''When you lose two of three circuits serving an area, you have a significant repair job ahead of you,'' she said.

Raines said steam from the city's heating service may have triggered a short in FirstEnergy's system, causing the fire.
Akron Municipal Clerk of Courts Jim Laria sent half his staff — about 20 workers — home about an hour early because of the outage.

He planned to have a skeleton crew on duty to handle nighttime court business. ''We have manual systems where we can function,'' Laria said.
Laria said Municipal Court judges closed down early because of the outage. Workers in various offices, including the FirstEnergy and Chase office towers on South Main, were told to leave early as well. Also darkened were City Hall and most of the police station. Backup power supplied the city's emergency dispatch center.

''It's a nice day'' for a power outage, Amy Gargas, 23, assistant scientist in FirstEnergy's environmental department, said as she enjoyed the warm November weather outside the FirstEnergy building.

Karen Rose, 48, a paralegal, sat outside at Cascade Plaza, waiting for her husband to pick her up after the law firm where she works in the National City tower shut down early.
She said ''good Samaritans'' with flashlights helped escort workers through the dark underground parking deck.

''You think that you work in a modern office and don't realize how close to an emergency situation you are,'' Rose said. ''I'm going to bring in a flashlight and keep it in my desk.''
At the Beauty Lounge on Mill Street, hair stylists and a manicurist worked in the late afternoon light coming in the large front window.

Jen Michael, 28, of Akron, said about 3:30 p.m. that she had just cut a customer's hair.
''We'll see how that looks tomorrow,'' she said.

''Thank goodness we have natural light,'' said shop owner Rachel Flowers, 33.
John Peters, food and beverage director at the Radisson Hotel Akron City Centre, said guests in the 274-room hotel ''were keeping pretty calm. . . . We're still checking people in.''

He said people seemed more relaxed than during the 2003 blackout that hit eight states and part of Canada. He said people's nerves were still jangled back then from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com. Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. Beacon Journal staff writers Bill Lilley and David Giffels contributed to this report.

It took until evening for First-Energy Corp. to restore limited power to downtown Akron buildings left in the dark after an underground fire Tuesday afternoon blacked out much of the central business district.
The utility said its workers may need to shut off power to some sections of downtown again today to complete repairs.

The outage began about 3 p.m., when FirstEnergy shut off power to about 300 downtown customers — mostly businesses — because of a fire that was discovered about 1:20 p.m. in an underground electrical vault on South Main Street near Canal Park stadium.

Power was out to most customers on South Main, from Market Street to the north to Exchange Street to the south, until about 6 p.m. Power also was out in some areas east to Broadway.
The Akron Fire Department evacuated buildings near the stadium, and Akron police directed traffic at several intersections where signals were out.
The knocked-out traffic lights and the crush of workers leaving darkened offices made for traffic backups.

The fire department received a report of black smoke coming through a sidewalk grate near the stadium at 1:22 p.m., said spokesman John W. Gordon.

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