More than 8,400 PPL customers lost power in Allentown on Wednesday evening after an unknown issue sparked a fire at an electric substation in the city.
The cause of the outage, which is still being investigated, caused the fire within the substation at around 5:32 p.m., according to PPL spokesperson Alana Roberts. The fire was extinguished, and there were no injuries. There was no danger to the public, Roberts said.
Video shared to social media showed flames emanating from the electrical substation at 14th and Green streets. Other videos and photos showed a flashing bright green light in the sky from blown transformers.
Shawn Schwoyer was working at the Haja Rose Bowl bowling alley nearby on Sumner Avenue at the time of the fire. He and others inside the building heard a loud buzzing noise and were trying to figure out what it was.
They noticed the bright light coming from outside, and went outside to check it out, Schwoyer said. That’s when he captured video of the fire.
Power inside the building came back on about 5 minutes later, Schwoyer said. Others on social media reported having power restored within 10 to 15 minutes after the fire.
The bulk of the 8,450 power outages were in Center City and eastern portions of the city’s West End, according to PPL’s outage map. Power was restored to all customers by 6:16 p.m., Roberts said.
The outages affected multiple traffic lights and street lights, according to a post by Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Facebook. Tuerk said the city’s traffic department placed temporary stop signs at intersections, and reminded drivers to treat any intersection with a traffic light that was not working as a four-way stop.
The fire came as rain was falling across the area, though it’s unknown if weather played a factor. PPL crews remained on scene Wednesday evening and were evaluating the equipment to determine the extent of the damage, Roberts said.
The power outage and fire marked the second incident this week involving an electric substation in the Lehigh Valley.
A Whitehall man was charged after police said he damaged equipment while trying to steal copper from a PPL substation in Allen Township, Northampton County. The man became trapped for hours and had to be rescued by emergency responders, police said.
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December 28, 2023 at 07:00AM
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