'Thanks, Mother Nature': Downtown Akron power restored. Gas line repairs continue
It was about 50 degrees Monday inside January Paint & Wallpaper in Akron's West Hill.
That area and parts of downtown were into their third day without heat after a major water main broke near Akron Children's Hospital, disrupting natural gas service during a January cold snap.
The city repaired the water main break Saturday, but other repairs were taking longer.
Some gas service had been restored Monday, but Dominion Energy Ohio said it may take another two days to finish repairs to all gas lines.
Andy January, whose family opened the paint and wallpaper store more than 65 years ago, said all business faces crises.
"We’re grown ups. We’re responsible for ourselves," said January, bundled in a hat, gloves and long johns under his khakis.
Water main breaks: Crews work to restore natural gas service to downtown Akron after pipe breaks, water flows into gas lines
His family bought three electric heaters for $200 each and borrowed three more to make sure the store stayed warm enough so the gallons of paint wouldn't freeze.
But January worried about a neighbor with Down syndrome who lived nearby. The neighbor declined January's help as forecasts called for more snow and 15 degree temperatures.
Meanwhile, on the other side of downtown Akron on Monday, a separate and unrelated utility crisis appeared to be resolved.
More crews brought in: Dominion Energy Ohio dispatches more crews to fix gas lines disabled by city water main break
A fire in an underground electrical vault Saturday morning at Main and West Market streets cut power to downtown about 9 a.m. Sunday.
Akron Municipal Court, the Stubbs Justice Center and some businesses in downtown Akron were closed Monday because of the extended outage, which impacted 173 downtown customers.
Ohio Edison crews worked overnight to get power back and initially hoped to restore power by 9 a.m. Monday. At 10:45 a.m., the company said crews were almost finished with repairs and would soon start reenergizing power to customers in smaller batches.
Power was ultimately restored to downtown Akron by 2 p.m. Monday.
Reason for back-to-back catastrophes unclear
Ward 1 Councilwoman Nancy Holland said it wasn't entirely clear what caused the back-to-back utility catastrophes, but she knows winter weather has delayed the repairs.
"If I was to give this weekend a name, it would be 'Thanks, Mother Nature'," Holland said.
Snow cleanup: Akron service director calls foot-deep snow cleanup 'excellent' despite challenges, delays
Holland learned of the water main break and resulting gas line problem Saturday morning.
She said she was relieved after learning that some immediate concerns — Akron Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House — did not rely on gas heat. Akron Children's uses steam heat and the guest rooms at Ronald McDonald use electric heat, she said.
The Mayflower tower for older and disabled adults on Main Street also was unaffected. The city of Akron said it is heated by steam. But the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA) 74-unit Belcher apartments on Locust Street did lose gas heat.
Dominion told Holland it was reaching out to all its customers without heat and offering to pay for hotels until gas could be restored. But only one resident at Belcher took that offer, said Debbie Barry, interim executive director of AMHA.
Some residents didn't want to leave their pets. Others were already in bed for the night by the time arrangements were made. Regardless, Barry said that Dominion brought in a "war wagon" that provided temporary gas to fuel Belcher's boilers so that apartments never dipped below the 60s.
Just after 8 p.m. Saturday, Holland posted an update on her Council Facebook page and urged anyone who had not been contacted by Dominion to giver her a ring on her mobile phone.
"What a year this week has been," she said in a message at the bottom of the post.
Holland learned about the power outage on the other side of Akron's downtown about 9 a.m. Sunday.
"There's a long moment where you think this is a prank," Holland said.
But of course, it was not. Holland updated her constituents again on Facebook.
"I have received confirmation of a vault fire at Market and Main Streets; and power has been cut to that downtown area. This is a separate event from the gas line issue in the Bowery area," she wrote. "Please avoid downtown, and be careful driving today — streets are slick. Folks, #breathe."
Putting out the vault fire was tricky, Holland said. Firefighters had to use foam and ventilate the smoke in a certain way so it didn't flood nearby buildings.
And fixing electric, like fixing the gas, is a slow go in the snow and cold.
Weather makes repairs more difficult
A FirstEnergy spokeswoman on Monday said "fire debris cleanup and repairs to our underground equipment are complex under ideal weather conditions, and extreme weather conditions yesterday has made this effort even more challenging and time consuming."
To restore power, crews had to go into about 45 vaults in the city to complete electrical switching work, "all of which were covered with snow and needed to be cleared before our crews could begin making the repairs."
Summit County offices in the Ohio Building, including the executive and fiscal offices, were offering limited services on Monday. Several Akron municipal offices also were offering limited services.
Summit County Council canceled its regular Monday meeting. Summit County Common Pleas Court and Summit County Probate Court also were closed. Summit County Domestic Relations Court and the Summit County Clerk of Courts offices were open. County offices in other locations remained open with full services.
Dominion Energy Ohio also said winter weather was slowing its repairs.
About 25 customers had service restored on Sunday evening, and more customers were expected to be back in service Monday, Dominion said in a news release. "It’s likely restoration will continue into Tuesday and Wednesday. Continued frigid temperatures and falling snow are causing repairs to take longer than expected."
Impacted customers will continue to be offered overnight accommodations while their service is being restored, Dominion said. Customers who need shelter for the night are urged to call Dominion Energy at, 1-877-542-2630.
Dominion Energy said it brought in technicians from Akron, Cleveland, Ashtabula, Canton and Youngstown to complete repairs and restore natural gas service. The utility said it also has contractors to assist with repair and restoration efforts.
Still in the cold
Impacted residential and business customers are along West Cedar and Exchange streets, side streets connecting the two, in an area that ranges from Akron Children's Hospital to Cleveland Clinic Akron General to just beyond Glendale Cemetery into Akron's West Hill neighborhood, according to Dominion.
On Monday afternoon, in the same block as January Paint & Wallpaper, there was a fire at a house in the 300 block of West Exchange Street. A neighbor said the home was among those that didn't have heat.
The Akron Fire Department put out the blaze and said a family of four was displaced from the duplex. It was unclear if a space heater or some other method to try to stay warm may have caused the fire.
It was not clear why the family hadn't taken up Dominion's offer to pay for a hotel room until gas could be restored. Dominion officials said they paid for about 45 Akron residents' hotel rooms Sunday night and would continue housing them until gas service is restored.
Dominion Monday night will be putting up at least one more person.
When a reporter told Holland about January's neighbor with Down syndrome, she looked up who owned the man's house and reached out to the landlord.
Dominion told Holland the man had previously declined its hotel offer, but Holland said she "persuaded Dominion to skip formalities and permit the more-than-willing landlord to provide transport" so the man could stay in a warm hotel.
"Everybody happy," Holland texted from a council committee meeting.
Andy January, meanwhile, was still working in the cold.
"Well, when you’re a small business, if someone comes to get something and you’re not open for whatever reason, they may never come back," said January, who is 76. "We've had people coming and going all day."
Beacon Journal reporter Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Power restored in downtown Akron; gas service still out for some
