Memphis residents faced a sudden disruption on Tuesday afternoon as an MLGW substation fire resulted in more than 11,000 customers being thrust into darkness. According to a report by Action News 5, the incident, which occurred near Rhodes College on University Street, involved a substation breaker catching fire.
The Memphis Zoo also found itself under the unexpected shroud of a power outage and had to shut down early, specifically at 4 p.m., WREG reports. In a swift response to the emergency, as detailed by FOX13 Memphis, firefighters extinguished the fire by 3:15 p.m. and MLGW crews immediately set to work on restoring power for its customers.
MLGW officials described the damaged breaker as roughly the size of a car, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. This piece of equipment bears the responsibility for the blackout that swept through parts of Midtown and Downtown, pulling the plug on the daily hum of life in these neighborhoods. Power was restored to most customers by 6 p.m., according to MLGW, marking a relatively swift turnaround from outage to resolution.
The outage's breadth was notable, with 11,407 customers affected by 27 total outages at the height of the incident. The most concentrated were these outages in the area immediately surrounding the compromised substation. While MLGW had anticipated some customers might be left without power into the evening and potentially overnight, the utility has reported that more than 99% of those impacted have had their service restored, per WREG.
As Memphis recovers from this sudden substation blaze, the coordinated efforts of firefighters and MLGW crews have minimized the outage's expected duration, much to the relief of affected residents and businesses. Continued updates on the repair work and investigation into the fire's cause are likely to follow in the coming days.
