COLUMBUS, Ohio – Authorities in Columbus are trying to determine the source of explosions in an AEP Ohio underground network vault that led to power outages affecting several government offices and businesses.
AEP reports power was restored at 12:40 p.m. Friday.
An explosion was reported in the area of E. Broad St. and N. 4th Street and a second blast was reported at approximately 2:30 a.m, according to Columbus police. The vault, one of many that house the company’s electrical infrastructure in the city, such as major transformers, was located near the Renaissance Hotel and Chase building, spokeswoman Terri Flora said.
Flora says there were no injuries.
In a statement issued Friday morning, the utility says it is “working to determine the extent of the impact and crews are working on the issue.” According to Flora, the crews working to restore power and assess damage are specialists who were also sent to New York in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
The blasts blew off manhole covers, set off fire alarms and flooded emergency responders with calls. Smoke was seen coming from one of the manholes.
Police cordoned off streets, and Flora says AEP Ohio expanded the outage to other vaults as a safety precaution and to protect equipment. That knocked out power to traffic lights and buildings housing government offices, businesses and hotels, she said.
Police say the following buildings experienced a temporary power outage: the Ohio Attorney General, the Ohio Health Administration Building, the Franklin County Board of Education, the Franklin County Office on Aging, the Franklin County Sanitary Engineer, the Borden Building, Ameritech, the Ohio Department of Health, Midland Mutual, Nationwide Insurance, the Federal Building, PUCO, DHS, AEP Headquarters, TelhioCredit Union, Miami-Jacobs Career College, Momentiv, Southeast Inc., and the YMCA Downtown.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, 150 E. Gay Street, delayed opening until 10:00 a.m.
Nationwide Insurance offices located at 250 N. Front Street were not scheduled to open until 11:00 a.m.
Franklin County’s Memorial Hall, which houses the Board of Elections, Department on Aging and Sanitary Engineer’s office was not scheduled to open until noon.