By Amelia Kibbe
Editor-In-Chief
Two electrical problems led to an approximately three-hour power outage for the west side of St. Bonaventure University’s campus last Friday night and early Saturday morning, said National Grid’s Western New York spokesman Steve Brady.
He added much of the Town of Allegany and Village of Allegany also lost power and estimated the problems affected about 3,250 National Grid customers total.
According to Brady, around 11:20 p.m. last Friday a broken crossbeam on a pole near College Street and St. Bonaventure Road took down electrical wires, which created a fault in the line to the electric substation in Allegany. Brady said this created what electricians call a lock out, and it killed the power for about 2,250 customers.
Brady said at almost the same time or at the same time, a bad insulator on a pole near the intersection of West State Street and Constitution Avenue across the street from the academic part of the university knocked out power for an additional 1,000 customers. He said the insulator, which is used for high-voltage power transmissions, led to the popping or explosion noises and flashes of blue light that many students and staff said they witnessed around 11:20 p.m. Friday.
“At this point, we don’t know if one [problem] led to another or if they were related,” Brady said on Wednesday. “That’s something we’ll look at now. The first thing we do is get the power back on.”
He added a National Grid crew, made up of two two-person crews and a supervisor, fixed the fault and broken crossbeam by 1 a.m. Saturday and the insulator by 5 a.m. Saturday. Along with the crew, controllers at substations assisted in restoring the power.
Gary Segrue, director of Safety and Security at St. Bonaventure, said around 11:20 p.m. Friday, campus security officers witnessed small explosions and fire across the street from the west side of the university.
He said security officers immediately investigated the power outage to ensure the safety of all students and staff before issuing an e2Campus alert at about 12:15 a.m. Saturday. According to Segrue, having the alert sent out in under an hour is typical procedure for an event such as this, especially considering the time of day.
Brady said National Grid crews restored power to customers at different times between 1 and 5 a.m. Saturday, and Segrue said the university regained power at about 2:35 a.m. Saturday.
According to Segrue, security officers and members of Residence Life stationed themselves in building doorways and along hallways to assists any students during the time the university didn’t have power.
He added the east side of campus, including the Townhouses, Francis Hall and the Garden Apartments did not lose power.
“National Grid supplies the university with two separate meters which is beneficial to the university community during matters like this,” Segrue said. “Only one feed was affected.”
Brady said for customers as large as St. Bonaventure, it is typical to have two meters.
Both Brady and Segrue said no one reported injuries from the loss of power, and Brady said, to his knowledge, no university students were ever in danger.
Segrue said his office paid a part-time hourly employee for 3.75 extra hours of work, so the officer could remain on duty for the entire power outage.
Brady estimated National Grid received between 400 and 500 calls from customers concerning the power outage.
kibbeaa13@bonaventure.edu
