100+ utility customers in downtown Colorado Springs still without power after underground fire
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Monday, an electrical fire in Colorado Springs triggered power outages through the heart of downtown, shutting down electricity to 283 metered customers including businesses, restaurants, and residents.
Colorado Springs Utilities restored power to over half of those customers by Tuesday morning and said about 130 customers were still without electricity.
As those customers wait for their power to return, the utility company said their crews are working around the clock to connect the remaining customers to electricity.
However, questions remain on what exactly caused the Colorado Springs Utilities electrical equipment to malfunction and whether it was caused by an underground transformer malfunctioning or a cable failure.
"What the crews have had to do because of the extensive damage from yesterday's failure is they're actually having to pull large segments of wire out of the ground and then reconnecting that or re-slicing it to try to zero in on what exactly the point of origin was and how to restore a certain circuit," said Springs Utilities spokesperson Steve Berry.
Utility crews have identified the electrical vault where the fire started on Kiowa Street, but Berry said there are multiple vaults throughout downtown. Although people typically view underground power lines as less susceptible to power outages, Berry said a downside is that they take more time for crews to fix than above-ground lines.
Berry said the underground power lines are regularly maintained and inspected, so this is not a simple investigation.
Crews are trying to see whether water or moisture got into the vault, but it's still unclear what caused the fire and subsequent outages.
Still, as the investigation and outages persist, Berry is warning businesses and owners about the danger of improperly using generators.
Berry said Colorado Springs Utilities has received multiple reports of customers using generators incorrectly, which can put those customers in danger in addition to the crews working on the underground lines.
