ELYRIA TWP. — They had a blast, two actually, but the blown electrical transformers firefighters dealt with in scorching heat Thursday were anything but fun.
Following explosions at an Elyria Township substation, power was off to about 4,500 customers for about five hours until workers restored it about 10 p.m. (CT photo by Chuck Humel.)
The blown units at the Ohio Edison substation at 42390 Griswold Road at 5:07 p.m. cut electricity to about 4,500 customers, according to Edison spokesman Joe Faga. They also rattled two firefighters and two Edison workers who were in the substation about 20 feet from the blasts.
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Fire Chief Russ Scarbrough said a 138,000-volt lightning arrestor failed, causing the explosions, which caused no injuries. He said the explosions sounded like a bomb and noted that the porcelain material the equipment is made of could’ve acted like shrapnel.
“There was no indication it was going to fail, just boom, it went,” Scarborough said. “It could’ve been bad, real bad. It’s just pure luck nobody got hurt.”
Firefighters were called by company workers at 3:16 p.m. to cool the transformers as a precautionary measure, Scarbrough said. They were greeted by 101-degree heat and drained their 1,000-gallon pumper truck within four minutes.
Tankers from the Amherst, Carlisle Township and South Amherst fire departments were then brought in. Scarbrough said firefighters poured another 5,000 or 6,000 gallons of water on the transformers before the explosion.
Faga said the outage affected parts of Amherst Township, Elyria Township and Lorain and electricity was restored to all customers by 10 p.m. Faga, an Edison employee since 1999, said Thursday was the first time firefighters were summoned to cool the transformers.
However, resident Tom Miller said the explosions and outages aren’t a first. Miller, who said he has lived down the street from the substation since 1970, said explosions have occurred about four or five times in extremely hot weather and they rattled the windows of his house.
“They’re just like a bomb,” said Miller, 67. “And then everything in the house shuts down.”
Miller, who said his house is too old to have air conditioning, said people need to conserve power in hot weather to prevent electrical overloads. He said when firefighters cool the transformers using neighborhood hydrants, water pressure in his house turns low and water turns brown.
“The first thing we usually do is take a clear glass and check the water,” Miller said as he hosed down his front yard. “It looks like chocolate milk.”
Besides inconveniencing residents, the outages cut electricity to some area traffic lights and caused at least one accident.
Elyria resident Miranda Austin, 28, said she was turning left from Murray Ridge Road onto state Route 113 east at 5:30 p.m. when she was struck by a westbound car. The accident knocked the front bumper off her car and caused extensive front end damage.
“I knew the lights were out when I crossed the other intersection,” a frustrated Austin said as she stood on the shoulder of the road by her battered car. “I was the driver who actually paid attention to the lights being out.”
Temperatures are expected to reach highs in the 90s today, Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service and Faga advised customers to conserve energy. However, Faga said the outage was not due to overuse.
“That piece of equipment would’ve failed regardless,” he said.
Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.
