Calgary power outage caused by fire could take days to restore

CALGARYA fire in an underground electrical vault has left customers in a large section of Calgarys downtown core without power, and officials say it could be days before the electricity can be restored.

The city says the fire, which happened in a manhole Saturday night, completely destroyed the electrical infrastructure inside.

More than 100 buildings, including apartments and office towers, are affected.

It is expected that the majority of customers power will be restored in about four days. However there will be some areas that will not be restored for a week, a statement Sunday on the citys website said.

Calgarys mayor, Naheed Nenshi, is urging people to make arrangements to temporarily move to another location.

Police have set up a security perimeter around part of the affected area, but say people will be allowed in and out.

Matt, a cook at Lord Nelsons Bar and Grill which is just outside the affected zone, said his 16th-floor apartment has no power.

I feel like, what the heck? I feel upset. This is Canada, its not in Africa. Why is it four to seven days before the hydro can be back?

He said emergency workers and roadblocks were everywhere when he left work Saturday night, and that it looked like an action movie. When he finally reached his building, he had to wait half an hour before security guards would let residents enter.

He took the stairs because there was no power to run the elevators. There was still no power when he got up Sunday morning, and the water for his shower was starting to get cold.

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Calgary power outage caused by fire could take days to restore