Transformer explosion leaves over 500 customers without power in Dennis

What happened

A transformer exploded on Route 6A in Dennis, on Cape Cod, leaving more than 500 Eversource customers without power. The incident was reported to have happened at about 9:30 pm on a Wednesday evening. Local reporting said the cause of the failure was not immediately clear at the time of publication. Line crews were working to restore service. The source does not report any injuries, fire spread, evacuation or the time taken to restore power.

Contributing factors

The cause of the failure was not immediately clear in the source. No other contributing factors are reported.

Lessons learned

1. Transformers that fail with an explosion can disconnect large numbers of customers at once, so operators should map the customer load each transformer serves and plan restoration routes and temporary supplies accordingly.
2. Crews attending a transformer failure should treat the equipment as a hazard until the fault is isolated and the area is cleared, because explosive failure can scatter debris.
3. Early public messages should say clearly when the cause is unknown and then give updates once the failure investigation has established it.

More lessons on outages, backup supply and restoration, electrical protection and isolation, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Source

capecod.com