June 14, 2001

DC - Manhole fire cause power loss, frustration By Guy Taylor and Robert Treadway THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Another underground manhole fire in Georgetown yesterday left at least 1,600 Pepco customers including residents, restaurants and businesses sweltering in the heat without power, infuriating city officials and frustrating shop owners. "We´re sick and tired of this," said D.C. Emergency Management Director Peter LaPorte. He said city officials will be talking to Potomac Electric Power Co.´s management about the repeated manhole incidents in Georgetown. Yesterday´s fire, which sent smoke pouring out of three manholes and flames shooting from two others, is the fourth manhole fire in Georgetown in four weeks. Hundreds of utility customers were suddenly without power about 3:30 p.m. yesterday, and traffic ground to a halt along the M Street business corridor between 28th and 31st streets NW as firefighters hurried to put out the flames. William Quick was in the Barnes & Noble bookstore on the corner of M and Thomas Jefferson streets when, he says, he saw the store´s lights flicker. "I came outside and I saw smoke coming from the manhole by SunTrust Bank [on 30th and M streets]," Mr. Quick said. "Five minutes later, I heard a bang come from the manhole." D.C. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter said no one was injured in the blaze, which he believes started in one place and spread beneath the ground to five separate manholes. As of last night, according to Pepco spokeswoman Nancy S. Moses, the company didn´t know the cause of the fire. Pepco spokesman Robert Dobkin said it may have been started by the shorting out of a 13,000-volt wire in one of the manholes. Though there were no reports of manhole covers popping off the ground yesterday, the rash of flipping covers and underground fires during the past year has marred Pepco´s image. The company replaced many of the older, solid manhole covers along sidewalks and street crossings last year with slotted covers designed to allow gases to escape before pressure can build up and dislodge them. In May, Pepco announced plans for a three-year, $30 million rewiring of the aging matrix of electrical wires beneath Georgetown. "These incidents continue to drive home the message there´s a strong need to do the $30 million rewiring project we announced last month," Mrs. Moses said. But Mr. LaPorte sent out a warning to the company last night that there needs to be what he calls "a sense of urgency" about getting the problem under control. Mrs. Moses said the rewiring of the M Street business corridor will begin when Pepco works out complications with the city over access to the wires beneath the streets and sidewalks. "Our company is eager to begin ... right away," she said. Numerous businesses along M Street closed early yesterday after officials predicted the power would be out well past midnight. Abdul Idelbi, owner of Cafe Cafe on M Street, near the fire, said his shop would lose about $7,000 because of the unexpected power outage. "I will have to throw away ice cream and meat products due to the loss of power," Mr. Idelbi said. "The outages are becoming regular. ... It´s killing me." Jamie Peacock, director of operations for Hotel Monticello of Georgetown on Thomas Jefferson Street, said the hotel hallways went dark about 3:30 p.m. "We were prepared for it this year," Mrs. Peacock said as she helped patrons of the hotel through the dark corridors. A similar manhole incident about this time last year caused the hotel to lose about $4,000, she said. City officials provided three air-conditioned Metro buses for residents to cool off, as well as an overnight shelter at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where residents could spend the night in an air-conditioned facility with Red Cross staff on hand. http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20010614-73457668.htm

-- Doris (nocents@bellsouth.net), June 14, 2001

Answers

Headline 1: Smoking Manholes Disrupt Georgetown Power, Traffic

Source: Washington Post, From Staff and AP Reports, Thursday, June 14, 2001; 1:04 PM

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A894-2001Jun14.html

More manhole problems in Georgetown today have left 1,600 people without power, forced dozens of businesses to close and shut down several blocks of traffic along M Street.

Potomac Electric Power Co. spokesman Nancy Moses says today's problems are linked to a 13,000-volt cable that shorted out yesterday. About 8 a.m. today, power had been restored to most of the customers who lost electricity yesterday, but almost as soon as that announcement was made, power was lost again.

D.C. Emergency Management Director Peter LaPorte says the subsequent lost in power was the result of a surge in electricity after the power was restored. Those without power are mainly the same customers affected last night and earlier this morning.

M Street between Wisconsin Avenue and 24th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue between Washington Circle and M Street are closed, so Pepco officials can make repairs. Smoke from manholes was concentrated in the area on Jefferson between 31st and 32nd street.

The normally thriving strip of shops and restaraunts is now lined with yellow police tape, orange cones and Pepco repair trucks and crews. The repair crews need to do an in-depth inspection of each manhole before they try powering up again, she says. As a result, the street will likely be closed throughout this evening’s rush hour.

Pepco has asked customers in the area to make sure the power switches on all appliances, including televisions and computers, are turned off. That will help prevent the system from overloading once power is restored. Pepco officials say it could take up to 36 hours to restore power. Moses says all repairs may not be completed until early Saturday morning.

That news doesn't make Georgetown business owners very happy. They estimate they’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars from these recent manhole incidents.

"When you lose power into a strong business community as well as a residential area . . . it certainly calls for a great deal of coordination," said LaPorte, also expressing concern about the impact on traffic. "We need to . . . get past the response phase and into a recovery phase as quickly as possible."

Moses says businesspeople can contact the company’s claims department to seek relief. The city has contacted the small business administration to try and get disaster relief for Georgetown businesses.

In the meantime, city officials are trying to deliver some relief from the heat for Georgetown residents without power.

LaPorte says a cooling center will open at 2:30 p.m., at the Duke Ellington High School, 1698 35th St. NW. City officials plan to go door to door to alert residents about the cooling center. He says officials are concerned about the elderly and people with health problems.

Pepco will hand out dry ice at the Amoco station at 28th and M streets about 1:30 p.m.

Columbia Hospital for Women is running on its back up generator. It's using fans and ice to keep patients cool. Hospital officials asking for residents to donate fans.

Today's manhole problems follow incidents yesterday that also snarled rush hour traffic and left residents and businesses in the dark. The problems were first evident about 3:30 p.m. yesterday along M Street NW, when fire and smoke began billowing from beneath the street.

Stores and restaurants were evacuated, and the street filled with emergency vehicles but was closed to other traffic east of Wisconsin Avenue. That choked off one of the major commuter routes out of downtown Washington.

"It's just one disaster after another," Dan Crockett, president of the Georgetown Residents Alliance, said in an interview with The Post. "It's a frustration for the residents, and it's a frustration for the businesses here."

A preliminary investigation indicated that the fire started around 30th and M streets possibly as a result of a short circuit or other fault in a secondary system, Pepco officials said. They said it spread east along a main cable.

Pepco announced a $30 million plan last month to replace its aging underground electrical network in Georgetown, as a means of solving the chronic problem.

In a statement, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) expressed concern about the situation in Georgetown, calling it a hazard to public safety.

In contrast to several previous incidents, manhole covers apparently did not fly into the air yesterday. New covers, slotted to vent gases, have been installed in many downtown locations.

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Headline 2: Manhole Fire Shuts Down Georgetown

Power Outages Anger Residents, Business Owners; Street Closure Clogs Rush-Hour Traffic

Source: Washington Post, Thursday, June 14, 2001; Page B01

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63970- 2001Jun13.html

Smoke and flames billowed once again from manholes in Georgetown yesterday afternoon, knocking out electricity, throwing the rush hour into confusion, and shutting down one of the city's most vibrant commercial strips.

The fiery eruption from beneath the brick sidewalks of M Street NW around 3:30 p.m. prompted expressions of exasperation, touched off a flurry of evacuations from stores and restaurants and left the normally bustling thoroughfare in steamy paralysis.

Under a smoky haze, and amid fears of further outbreaks, the street filled with emergency vehicles but was closed to other traffic east of Wisconsin Avenue. That choked off one of the major commuter routes out of downtown Washington.

On one of the hottest days of the year, electricity was cut off to about 1,600 homes and businesses, halting computers and cash registers, not to mention refrigerators and air conditioning units.

"It's devastating," said Mike Jones, general manager of The Guards restaurant, as he contemplated lost revenue and other expenses.

"We . . . said 'Oh, Nelly!' " said Julie Wilson, part owner of Garrett's, a restaurant at 30th and M streets. "You just don't know when one is going to blow."

Except perhaps for yesterday's more copious quantities of flame and smoke, the drama has been played out many times before in Georgetown and downtown, and to generally grumpy reviews.

One of the most violent underground explosions occurred only a few feet away on M Street in February 2000, flinging a manhole cover into the air.

"It's just one disaster after another," said Dan Crockett, president of the Georgetown Residents Alliance. "It's a frustration for the residents, and it's a frustration for the businesses here."

A preliminary investigation indicated that the fire started around 30th and M streets possibly as a result of a short circuit or other fault in a secondary system, Potomac Electric Power Co. officials said. They said it spread east along a main cable.

Pepco announced a $30 million plan last month to replace its aging underground electrical network in Georgetown, as a means of solving the chronic problem.

"Tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough" for the project to start, said Peter G. LaPorte, head of the city's Emergency Management Agency. A Pepco spokesman said the company was awaiting city approval to begin work.

In a statement, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) expressed concern about the situation in Georgetown, calling it a hazard to public safety. In contrast to several previous incidents, manhole covers apparently did not fly into the air yesterday. New covers, slotted to vent gases, have been installed in many downtown locations.

Witnesses said flames issued from one manhole and columns of thick gray and black smoke from at least five.

At Garrett's, smoke filled the front doorway. The restaurant was quickly evacuated.

At Blue Mercury Spa, employees dusted shelves. Many stores along M Street shut down just after the fire broke out, and those that stayed open found few customers.

"I'd have to say it's a little frustrating," said Marla Malcolm, chief executive of Blue Mercury.

The power outages and street closures backed up commuter traffic and blocked bus routes. People swarmed through side streets to other bus stops. City officials forced all shops on certain blocks of M Street to shut down for the night about 6 p.m. At the Guards, Jones said he had to pack ice around $10,000 worth of produce, fish, soft-shell crabs and aged Angus beef.

Because of the day's heat, the city brought in at least one air- conditioned Metrobus, and opened a "cooling station" at Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

Power went on for a time about 9 p.m., but smoke began swirling and it was shut down again. Officials said repair crews would work through the night.

-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@state.pa.us), June 14, 2001.

15-Jun-01

Manhole woes keep power off

By CANDACE SMITH Associated Press WASHINGTON - Georgetown residents could be without power until tomorrow, utility officials say. As residents and business owners were up in arms yesterday, city officials urged patience amid the latest in a series of power woes to grip the neighborhood.

The problem began underground Wednesday when a faulty 13,000-volt cable sent smoke billowing from several manholes and flames from at least one. No one was hurt. Potomac Electric Power Co., the electric utility serving the District of Columbia, thought it had the problem solved yesterday morning. But officials said that when they went to turn the power back on, the system overloaded - sending more smoke through the manholes.

They again cut power to about 1,600 customers. ``I feel like I'm in some Third World country. They don't know what the hell they're doing,'' said Abdul Idelbi, owner of the Cafe Cafe ice cream parlor, as he watched his product melt. Big businesses were not immune. The Four Seasons hotel - where rooms can run to $1,500 per night - did not have air conditioning and was giving guests flashlights. Emergency generators, however, provided enough power to keep hallway lights on at the fully booked hotel.

The city, meanwhile, turned a high school into a cooling center for residents, while PEPCO handed out dry ice at a gas station. The outage was the latest in a series of problems for PEPCO in Georgetown, which has had at least eight incidents this year involving manholes. Last month, PEPCO officials unveiled a three-year, $30 million plan to upgrade its aging underground system in Georgetown. Yesterday, District Mayor Anthony A. Williams toured the area, telling business owners that PEPCO was going to start work within four to six weeks. ``We're trying to get it all done quickly, beginning this summer, and get the job done,'' Williams said.

Karen E. Good, executive director of the Georgetown Business and Professional Association, expected this latest incident to be worse than what happened in February 2000, when three manholes were thrown 20 to 30 feet into the air and several businesses had to shut for an entire weekend.

http://cold.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/stories/fxst0615200105.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 15, 2001.