UPDATE: Sub-station fire leads to power outage, Power back on about 12:40pm
Photos by Mark Keith
RURAL HEMPSTEAD COUNTY – An electrical fire shortly before noon this morning (7/3) has left the city of Hope and rural Hope Water & Light customers without power. A substation 6.5 miles west of Hope on U.S. Highway 67 that connects the SWEPCO system to HWL was involved. The fire was apparently on the SWEPCO side.
A statement from HWL said, “Hope Water & Light is experiencing a power outage of our entire service area. There is a problem on the transmission grid. We are in communication with SWEPCO actively working with them to resolve the problem and restore power. We will update as more information becomes available. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Hope Water & Light personnel are on scene. Fire departments from Guernsey, Fulton, and Hope were dispatched. Power was restored around 12:40pm.
UPDATE:
Hope Water & Light says crews have switched “all of our electric system load to an alternate feed in order to restore power to all of our service territory. Power should have been restored to everyone at 12:51:37. If you still do not have power, please contact the office at 870-777-3000. We again apologize for any inconvenience.”