Thieves damage substation causing fire and outage in Harrison

What happened

Power was restored to more than 2,700 customers in Clare County after thieves broke into a Consumers Energy substation on Deer Lake Road in Harrison late on Friday night. Someone cut and removed metal cables, causing damage that sparked a fire and knocked out power to homes and businesses. Crews completed repairs and restored electricity to all affected customers by about 9 a.m. the following morning. Consumers Energy has asked anyone with information about the theft to contact the Clare County Sheriff's Department and has reminded the public to stay at least 25 feet away from any downed power line.

Contributing factors

Theft of metal cables from the substation.

Lessons learned

1. Secure substations against metal theft to prevent damage and outages.
2. Public education on the dangers of approaching electrical facilities reduces risk.
3. Rapid repair response limits customer impact from such incidents.

Source

upnorthlive.com