Site search
sponsored by
News
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The Lane County government’s cranky, aging power system failed for the second time in three months Monday, forcing evacuation of the courthouse in downtown Eugene and temporarily shutting down some computer and communication systems in the Eugene-Springfield area.
There was no failure of the 911 system and no report of public safety incidents, and power was being restored Monday evening, Sheriff Russ Burger said.
But the malfunction was a critical concern, nevertheless. “The potential for injury goes up pretty significantly in this type of situation,” Burger said.
A circuit blew in the county Public Service Building at around 3 p.m., temporarily shutting down a generator that powers county electrical systems and numerous information systems used by county government, the courthouse and local cities.
County officials were not immediately able to describe the scope of the problem in the metropolitan area.
But a range of local government Web sites and e-mail communications were affected, including those for the cities of Eugene and Springfield, officials said.
The Eugene Water and Electric Board experienced a temporary loss of Internet services that did not threaten the utilitys systems but complicated efforts to pay bills online, spokesman Lance Robertson said.
Calls to 911 continued because they use separate phone lines to agencies that weren’t affected.
But the loss of power affected the county’s regional information systems, radio dispatch, police databases, telephones and even elevators in the county building, Burger said.
Offenders in various courtrooms had to be moved to secure locations before the courthouse went completely black, Burger said.
“When you turn off the lights and try to do that, it becomes a dangerous situation,” he added.
Many county employees were told to go home early. But the outage came on a day when many residents were trying to beat a deadline for property tax payments, so deputies and other employees helped people to the assessment and taxation department, Burger said.
Burger said the malfunction was similar to a circuit breaker failure in August, when a partial outage resulted in the temporary displacement of about 140 workers and required repairs that took days.
Officials have said the county buildings power system is more than 30 years old, and that it can take days to find hard-to-replace parts.
The county has said there is no money earmarked for replacement of the system and that citizens might eventually be asked for funding help.
There was no failure of the 911 system and no report of public safety incidents, and power was being restored Monday evening, Sheriff Russ Burger said.
But the malfunction was a critical concern, nevertheless. “The potential for injury goes up pretty significantly in this type of situation,” Burger said.
A circuit blew in the county Public Service Building at around 3 p.m., temporarily shutting down a generator that powers county electrical systems and numerous information systems used by county government, the courthouse and local cities.
County officials were not immediately able to describe the scope of the problem in the metropolitan area.
But a range of local government Web sites and e-mail communications were affected, including those for the cities of Eugene and Springfield, officials said.
The Eugene Water and Electric Board experienced a temporary loss of Internet services that did not threaten the utilitys systems but complicated efforts to pay bills online, spokesman Lance Robertson said.
Calls to 911 continued because they use separate phone lines to agencies that weren’t affected.
But the loss of power affected the county’s regional information systems, radio dispatch, police databases, telephones and even elevators in the county building, Burger said.
Offenders in various courtrooms had to be moved to secure locations before the courthouse went completely black, Burger said.
“When you turn off the lights and try to do that, it becomes a dangerous situation,” he added.
Many county employees were told to go home early. But the outage came on a day when many residents were trying to beat a deadline for property tax payments, so deputies and other employees helped people to the assessment and taxation department, Burger said.
Burger said the malfunction was similar to a circuit breaker failure in August, when a partial outage resulted in the temporary displacement of about 140 workers and required repairs that took days.
Officials have said the county buildings power system is more than 30 years old, and that it can take days to find hard-to-replace parts.
The county has said there is no money earmarked for replacement of the system and that citizens might eventually be asked for funding help.
