Nov 24, 2008 1:07 pm US/Eastern
Manhole Fires Knock Out Power In Downtown Boston
Several Schools, Businesses Forced To Close
All Registry Branches Closed
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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A construction worker snapped this photo shortly after the explosions.
WBZ
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The manhole fires knocked out power in the theater district.
WBZ
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The lights were out in the Hancock Tower, including the famous weather beacon.
WBZ
Three manhole fires at Stuart, Tremont, and Boylston Streets knocked out power in parts of downtown Boston for about six hours Monday morning.
NStar said power was completely restored just before 11 a.m.
The hardest hit were customers in the theater district.
At one point, the outage stretched to parts of the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, knocking out traffic lights on several streets.
What Went Wrong?NStar said the fires started when an underground cable failed and damaged nearby equipment. Authorities then shut the system down and re-routed the electricity manually to get some of it back up quickly. The spokesman said it could have been much worse if they were unable to do that.
Who Lost PowerThe Hancock Tower and half of Newbury Street were just some of the buildings without power before sunrise.
The
Registry of Motor Vehicles closed all 35 of its branches statewide because their computer servers had no power. Online services also have been affected.
The MBTA briefly shut down the Arlington Station on the Green Line and the outbound side of the Copley Station because the lights were out.
The New England School of Law, Bay State College and Fisher College cancelled classes for the morning. The Josiah Quincy Elementary School and Quincy Upper School were also closed for the day.
The Snowden International School at Copley, which occupies several buildings in the area, was also affected by the outages. But, classes remained in session, with some being held in the Boston Public Library.
Firefighters started to evacuate the Radisson Hotel on Stuart Street because there was smoke in the basement, but guests and workers were allowed back in after it was deemed safe.
There were no reports of injuries.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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