A Central Maine Power substation in Winslow malfunctioned Friday morning, sparking a grass fire and shutting off power to customers across the northern area of town for about an hour.

The outage affected schools, the Town Office, businesses and residents, as well as the traffic light at the Winslow-Waterville bridge on U.S. Route 201.

CMP spokeswoman Gail Rice said the outage affected 1,950 customers in the area.

The outage was reported to the Winslow Fire Department at 7:44 a.m., said Rocky Gravel, a captain at the department. Gravel said firefighters were told a recloser at the power station on Benton Avenue had tripped, melting a plastic handle and igniting the grass fire in a ditch.

Gravel said the Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire, while a Winslow police officer directed traffic on Benton Avenue.

Power was restored after about an hour, Gravel said. The outage prompted St. John Catholic School to cancel school for the day, while Winslow public schools waited for power to be restored.

Shelley Phillips, director of facilities for Winslow public schools, said the elementary school’s generator kicked on while the other two buildings remained without power.

Phillips said school officials were nervous when CMP estimated power would be restored by 9:45 a.m., but it came back on around 8:45 a.m.

“It was a little dark, but we never skipped a beat,” Phillips said.

 

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