UPDATE Fri., 5:45 a.m.: Appalachian Power was reporting 107 remaining outages to residences and businesses in Downtown Charleston. Those outages were largely concentrated in an area near Charleston’s Hale Street. Restoration work was ongoing.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An underground electric transformer exploded downtown Thursday night, potentially leaving several hundred Appalachian Power customers without power for several days.
Most of the downtown area went dark after the 7 p.m. fire occurred at the corner of Virginia and Hale streets. Black smoke poured from a manhole.
Appalachian Power crews were called to the scene but company officials said workers weren’t immediately cleared to begin repairs.
“Right now, what we’re doing is working to get that area safe,” spokesman Phil Moye said. “Making sure it’s safe for our workers to go in and assess the damage.”
About 600 customers were without service, the utility said. All power service is located underground in downtown Charleston.
The outage has the potential to cause a mess in downtown Friday with no traffic lights. Police and government officials urged residents to exercise extreme caution on the roads—especially at the many intersections where stoplights are not functioning.
“We’re respectfully requesting all motorists to exercise grave caution when coming to a stoplight,” Kanawha County Commission president Kent Carper said. “If a traffic light is out, you should treat it like a four-way stop.”
Measures will be taken to assist residents who may depend on electricity for their oxygen machines, Carper said.
Appalachian Power didn’t offer a timetable for the power’s restoration, but were working with electricians who provided Power Resoration in Hoboken.
“Until we can safely get into the manhole area and make an assessment of what type of damage we’re looking at, we really can’t give any accurate estimate of when power will be restored,” Moye said.
City police will have extra patrols in dark areas, and sheriff’s deputies are on hand to assist.