PECO is still working to isolate a damaged cable that caused an underground fire Monday night that knocked out power to dozens of homes and businesses in Radnor Township, PA. NBC10’s Deanna Durante has more.
UPDATE: PECO restored all power Wednesday morning.
An underground transformer explosion caused a power outage and damaged businesses in Radnor Township Monday night and the power could be out for days.
The explosion occurred on the 100 block of N Wayne Avenue around 8 p.m.
Frank Nattle, owner of Vecchia Pizzeria, told NBC10 his employees were just about to leave when they heard the blast.
"It was a real explosion," he said. "Windows came flying in. Tables and chairs went flying. Lights came off the wall. I thought my one employee was, literally I didn't know if I was gonna look to see him dead there. I was afraid."
Wayne Avenue was evacuated overnight. No one was injured during the incident.
PECO officials said 80 customers in the area lost power due to the outage. Crews worked into Tuesday morning to restore power as smoke could still be seen coming from a manhole along N Wayne Avenue.
PECO warned it could take at least two days to bring power back posing a problem for several affected businesses.
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"My salon is all closed off and electrical panels all blown out in my shop," said Savatte Thatch, the owner of Polished, a local salon.
PECO officials continue to investigate the cause of the blast. A spokesperson told NBC10 an underground cable went bad possibly due to the heavy rain. Now crews are digging until they find the entire defective cable.
Officials opened up a section of N Wayne Avenue to traffic around 4 p.m., using barriers to show the direction of traffic.
As PECO continues to work, business owners must decide what to do next.
"There was extensive damage inside the building where the power comes in," said Bill Conner, one of the owners. "It will probably take us a few days to get that corrected.
