East Syracuse lost power for approximately 30 minutes Monday after a transformer blew, causing an electrical fire on East Colvin Street in front of Manley Field House at approximately 10:40 p.m. National Grid shut off power in order to fix the transformer.

National Grid and the Syracuse Fire Department responded to the electrical fire and were at the scene to fix the transformer shortly after it blew, said Department of Public Safety Chief Tony Callisto. The outage affected Euclid and Comstock avenues.

Firefighters hosed the line where the fire erupted with a steady stream until about 11 p.m.
DPS blocked traffic to South Campus on East Colvin Street between the intersections of Comstock Avenue and Skytop Road.

Many drivers traveling out of South Campus were unaware of the road block, and DPS experienced difficulty rerouting them.

“You always encounter problems when you block major road arteries,” said DPS officer Carl Hawlley.

DPS officers were stationed at Manley and scattered throughout the area at street lights, directing traffic while the lights were out, said DPS officer Jim Keefe.

The fire forced buses traveling to Manley and South Campus to detour and drop travelers off at alternative stops.

Judy Ferris, a Food Services employee at Ernie Davis Dining Center, was traveling back on one of the detoured buses and was dropped off at an alternative stop on Colvin Avenue closest to her car in the South Manley parking lot. She said she was disoriented and didn’t know how to get back to her car.

“The bus driver just stopped and yelled that if you’re going to Manley to get off,” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know where I am.’”

By 11:10 p.m. the Fire Department told DPS the situation was safe, and the street lights and electricity across campus came back on. DPS cleared the roads approximately five minutes later.

 

Published on March 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm