Transformer fire cuts power to nearly 4,000 people in Lawton

What happened

On the morning of 10 May 2023, the Lawton Fire Department responded at about 11:00 to a transformer fire on the west side of Lawton, Oklahoma. The transformer reportedly blew on the 100 block of SW 67th Street. An outage map from the Public Service Company of Oklahoma showed three main outages affecting around 3,780 people, concentrated on the west side of the city. A spokesperson for the company said all Lawton customers had power restored by 11:42 that morning. No injuries were reported.

Contributing factors

The cause of the transformer fire was not reported.

Lessons learned

1. A single transformer fire can interrupt supply to several thousand people within a neighbourhood.
2. Outage maps help crews and the public see how many separate interruptions follow one failure.
3. Rapid restoration, here within about an hour, still leaves the failed equipment and the cause to be checked before the circuit is treated as fully recovered.

Source

kswo.com