(file photo)

By Sheldon Spackman

54 Avenue and 45 Street

Blown fuse and failed transformer result in loud bangs heard near Cronquist Business Park

Nov 4, 2021 | 5:06 PM

Residents near Red Deer’s Capstone neighbourhood and Cronquist Business Park may have heard a pair of loud bangs on Wednesday following a blown fuse nearby.

Jim Jorgensen, Utilities Manager for the City of Red Deer, says Electric Light and Power (EL&P) crews were called to the area of 54 Ave. and 45 Street around 4:45 p.m. and initially found just one local business without power.

“The crew went down, went to reclose everything and then one of the pole top transformers, it failed when we went to close everything back in, so there would have been a bigger bang and it would have impacted about five or six businesses in the area,” he explains. “So likely the initial cause was the transformer.”

“There was some oil that came out of the transformer when it failed, like a few litres,” adds Jorgensen. “But we spent some time cleaning things up.”

Jorgensen says the roughly half dozen businesses affected were without power for about an hour and a half until the transformer was replaced. He says the original business impacted, however, had its power restored by 9:30 p.m.

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Jorgensen reminds residents to call The City’s EL&P department if they see or hear of any potential power or electrical issues such as this one.

“They don’t always happen right where the problem is,” says Jorgensen. “So it’s always helpful to hear from the public when stuff like that does happen.”