Crime & Safety

UPDATE: CL&P Line Blaze Knocked Out Power to Middle School

The blaze that closed classes today at Woodrow Wilson Middle School is unrelated to two other gear room fires in the past 16 months at the school.

5 p.m. Update:

"The power outage occured when a line that delivers power to the school burned this morning," says Mitchell S. Gross, spokesman, Connecticut Light & Power — not a transformer fire. "We don't why it caught fire. A CL&P crew was in the process of making repairs when they determined that the utility pole, which is owned by AT&T, was damaged and needed to be replaced. AT&T was notified and a crew is in the process of replacing the pole.

"The electric line that delivers power burned, causing the school to lose power. The transformer and pole may have suffered burn marks," Gross says. "Power to the school is expected to be back on early this evening."

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Original version:

A fire that closed the on Wednesday was caused by a utility line, according to Connecticut Light & Power.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The blaze was also unrelated to two previous electrical fires at the school in the last year, according to South Fire Marshal Steve Kroll.

The power outage closed the middle school and knocked out Internet service to Central Office.

Fire dispatch received a call at 2:54 a.m. that a CL&P utility pole was on fire at the end of Jefferson Avenue, near the rear entrance to the school. “Power was lost due to the electrical service going into the middle school underground,” Kroll said. “[CL&P] attributed to a failure due to age.”

No residents were affected by power loss.

Pam Janice, who lives at the end of Jefferson Street, said she and her granddaughter were awoken at 3 a.m. by the sound of the transformer blowing. By Wednesday afternoon, AT&T and CL&P crews part of her lawn cordoned off for utility work.

In the past 16 months, Woodrow Wilson Middle School classes have been canceled on two separate occasions due to fire.

“This was unrelated to the other two fires,” Kroll says, on Oct. 1, 2010, and Jan. 19, 2011. “Those times, the problem was with the phase and switch gear in the actual room at the school itself.”

In the morning, CL&P representatives worked on removing the burned pole and replacing it. Kroll says the telephone and power companies this afternoon will test service running underground to the transformer.

If the replacement is unsuccessful, Kroll said, “they’ll dig it up and put new wires underground to transformer.” CL&P will do the work throughout the night.

Kroll doesn’t know if work will be completed in time for school Thursday morning.

“Once they test the line, if they get in service tonight, it’s up to the superintendent and the school,” Kroll said.

Last January, a blown electrical transformer and overloaded power line caused an outage at Woodrow Wilson and central office. Facilities Director Kendall Jackson said at the time the problem appeared to have been almost identical to the one that triggered a similar incident in October 2010.

Then, a transformer in the vicinity of the Stop & Shop supermarket on East Main Street Extension blew, causing a surge of power on the line leading to the school. Jackson attributed that transformer problem to weather-related causes.


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