As of 9 p.m. Tuesday evening, power had been completely restored to the electrical engineering section of the CU engineering building following an overload of the building聮s transformer Tuesday morning. The power outage there and a related outage that hit 11 residence halls on the CU-Boulder campus Tuesday were the result of construction work that hit a major powerline on the east campus at mid-day on Monday. Power was restored to the residence halls earlier in the day on Tuesday. CU officials say the transformer in the electrical engineering section of the Engineering Building sustained minimal damage.
Power Outage At CU-Boulder Causes Building Evacuations, No Injuries Reported
July 17, 2007
Construction work that damaged a power line at the University of Colorado at Boulder resulted in an overloaded transformer today at the Engineering Center complex and power outages in 11 other buildings, primarily residence halls.
The aerospace engineering and electrical engineering departments in the Engineering Center were closed for the day. CU-Boulder emergency officials had restored power to all buildings except the two engineering departments and the north side of Willard Hall as of 2:30 p.m. No injuries were reported.
Baker, Farrand, and Libby Hall were temporarily evacuated. Aden, Brackett, Cockerell, Crosman, Reed, Cheyenne-Arapahoe, Willard and Hallett all experienced prolonged or temporary power failures. Each of the buildings is a CU residence hall, and Willard houses some CU administrative offices.
The aerospace engineering and electrical engineering departments in the Engineering Center were evacuated just before 9 a.m. after smoke was reported. CU Police and the Boulder Fire Department responded.
Boulder Fire also responded to fire alarms in the Libby and Baker residence halls due to smoke caused by overheated motors in elevator shafts, and a third fire alarm in Farrand Hall caused by a buildup of steam in the dining room kitchen. All three incidents were the result of the power problems, CU-Boulder officials said.
Two dining halls in Libby and Farrand were closed for lunch due to the power outage. Housing and Dining Services staff notified students and visitors residing in the affected halls of the closures and where they could obtain meals.
Meals were served in the Kittredge and Darley dining halls and at a special barbecue lunch was offered today in the lawn area between Farrand and Crosman halls. CU-Boulder housing officials said there also would be a backup plan for the evening meal.
About 250 summer school students and 550 visitors attending conferences on campus were affected by the closures, CU-Boulder officials said.
The problems began when construction work hit a power line in the Leeds School of Business of July 16. When workers attempted to make repairs to the line today, a power surge occurred that caused a small transformer fire in the engineering complex and power outages in the 11 other buildings.
People have been assigned to do fire watches and security monitoring at all affected residence halls, said Deb Coffin, executive director of the Housing & Dining Services Department.
In addition to CU Police and Boulder Fire, about two dozen Facilities Operations employees were working to address today's problems throughout the afternoon.
"We are actively assessing the damage and doing what we can to get all of the buildings back online as quickly as possible," said John Morris, director of Facilities Operations.
12:30 p.m. - Construction work that damaged a power line at the University of Colorado at Boulder resulted in a small transformer fire today at the Engineering Center complex and power outages in 11 other buildings, primarily residence halls. The aerospace engineering and electrical engineering departments in the Engineering Center are closed for the day. CU-Boulder emergency officials have responded and are working to get power restored.
10:45 a.m. - A small transformer fire that occurred in the CU-Boulder Engineering Center complex this morning is now out but has caused power outages in 10 other buildings on campus. Part of the Engineering Center is closed for the day. CU-Boulder emergency officials have responded. 麻豆淫院, faculty and staff are encouraged to stay away from the engineering complex.
10:00 a.m. - A small fire has been reported in the CU-Boulder Engineering Center. The building has been partially evacuated. Police and fire officials are on the scene. 麻豆淫院, faculty and staff and encouraged to stay away from the engineering complex. More details to follow.