Power Problems Hit Parts Of Metro
Officials Describe 2 Separate Incidents
POSTED: 10:06 am CDT September 8,
2003
UPDATED: 7:36 pm CDT September 8,
2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Power went out in parts of the metropolitan area Monday morning because of two isolated events.
Some 3,600 customers in Kansas City, Kan., were without power for a short time because the Board of Public Utilities' Nearman Plant (pictured, left) shut down. BPU officials said the shutdown happened when workers replacing fiber-optic cable at the Turner substation opened the wrong switch.Many residents across the river in Parkville, Mo., were startled by what sounded like explosions as the plant shut down.
"It was actually more like a couple of explosions ... It was quite startling," said resident Penny Sharp.KMBC's Maria Antonia reported that the plant's smokestack spewed steam and ash as the entire operation shut down. Power was rerouted. BPU officials said the Nearman Plant was back online a few hours later.
About the same time, buildings in a three-block radius went dark for about 13 minutes in downtown Kansas City. City Hall also lost power, but backup generators quickly kicked in and restored its electricity. A woman became trapped inside a glass elevator at a nearby parking garage, but she was rescued a short time later.Apparently the problem centered around a Kansas City Power & Light switch that failed on top of a building at 11th Street and Walnut. The problem sparked a small fire on the building, which was quickly extinguished.KMBC's Bev Chapman said the emergency lights in that building failed to come on when the power went out. Workers in that building evacuated through stairwells using their cell phones as flashlights. Power in that particular building remained down, and workers were sent home for the day."We had a couple of people with disabilities (who) had more trouble getting down than others. It was a little difficult," said Steve Kimsey, who works on the building's 20th floor.Small groups of employees were allowed back in the building to retrieve important belongings.A spokesman for the Fire Marshal's office said the owner of the building was given 48 hours to fix code violations to avoid a fine.
Some 3,600 customers in Kansas City, Kan., were without power for a short time because the Board of Public Utilities' Nearman Plant (pictured, left) shut down. BPU officials said the shutdown happened when workers replacing fiber-optic cable at the Turner substation opened the wrong switch.Many residents across the river in Parkville, Mo., were startled by what sounded like explosions as the plant shut down.|
|
| Video |
Workers In Dark After Downtown Power OutageCopyright 2007 by TheKansasCityChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
