Power Restored After Fire At PSO Power Plant

Tuesday, February 6th 2007, 6:20 pm

By: News On 6

A fire at a PSO substation led to a massive power outage in parts of Tulsa, Jenks and Sand Springs. It happened Tuesday evening around 6 oâ€™clock at 21st and Jackson. News on 6â€™s Ashli Sims reports on what caused the fire.

Eyewitnesses say the source of Tulsaâ€™s power put on an unexpected light show.

â€œMe and my friend were over there fishing, and all of a sudden I look over that way, and this big blue and green light just started flashing,â€ said witness David Seely.

PSO says just after 6 oâ€™clock the substation at the Tulsa plant at 21st and Jackson exploded and caught on fire.

â€œIt was a breaker in the substation that failed,â€ PSO spokesperson Stan Whiteford said. â€œIt appears, at this point, that it was a bushing and a breaker that failed, and then that bushing caught on fire,â€

PSO says thatâ€™s the equipment that transports power to the grid. The fuel component failed causing a breaker to shutdown.

No one was injured in the fire, but about 8,300 customers lost power. Officials say most was restored within 10 minutes, and the rest was restored within the hour.