Blown switch caused blackout

By Nate Adams
Collegian Editor
April 16, 2008

Last week’s blackout, which left over half of the campus and several blocks surrounding 20th and Olney without power for nearly an hour Monday, April 7, was the result of a blown underground switch, according to La Salle’s department of Physical Facilities.

Angelo Ratini - The blackout occured at the corner of Broad and 20th streets.

“Basically, it was a blown high voltage line,” said Joseph Birster, assistant director of physical facilities. “There are two underground servers that provide power to the campus, and one of them blew a switch.”

Birster went on to say that the problem, while inconvenient for the campus, was strictly a PECO Energy concern.

Workers from PECO were on the scene minutes after the blowout was reported. According to Birster, workers began fixing the problem at 8:40 p.m., and power was returned to all areas of campus before 9:30 p.m.

Workers bypassed power from the broken line into the other operational high voltage line, which allowed them to power the campus and surrounding areas while working on the problem.

When asked what the university’s involvement in the repair process was, Birster revealed that, while there was no direct involvement with La Salle in the repair process, Physical Facilities was in action minutes after the power was off.

“Once this happened, we had to start securing equipment,” Birster said. “We had people securing phone lines, security access points, card swipes … things like that. Our job is to make sure that once the power came back on, all these things would function smoothly.”

Some buildings, like Treetops Café and St. Basil Court, run on separate generators, but were still affected by the blackout. However, Birster pointed out that part of the recovery process was getting these facilities off generator power once the problem was repaired, so as not to cause damage.

“From a facilities standpoint, the blackout was a real good experience,” said Birster. “Besides the inconvenience, things went smoothly. No buildings exploded, and all systems got back online.”

Not all shared Birster’s optimistic outlook on the blackout. Many students were confused and frightened by the sudden, unexplained loss of power. Freshman communication major Ashley Roberts said that although she thought the blackout “wasn’t really a big deal,” students were panicked in the St. Hilary section of North Dorms.

“I was in my room when the power went out,” Robert said. “There was loud noise from outside and lights went off. Girls on my floor went out into the hallway and started to scream. The noise scared everyone. People were pretty panicked.”

Freshman Matt Haines, also a communication major, was on the corner of 20th and Olney when the blackout occurred.

“I was walking toward E&F when I heard this noise. A manhole cover shot about five feet into the air. There was fire and smoke coming from the ground below it,” Haines said.

“I was pretty confused. I didn’t understand how something like that could happen. I still don’t, really. I don’t think the school has handled it too well.”

Roberts agreed: “There’s a lot of misinformation out there, no one is really sure what happened.”

Senior communication major Jill Moore also had a problem getting in touch with La Salle about the incident. While Moore never felt worried about her safety, as an off-campus resident, the blackout did cause concerns.

“With all the confusion, I was afraid my house was going to get broken into,” Moore said. “I didn’t want to get looted. I tried calling La Salle to get some information, but they never got back to me. The whole thing was a real inconvenience.”

As of right now, the university has made no formal statement as to what caused the blackout.

adamsn1@lasalle.edu