Winds Cause South Pier Road Fire, Power Outages

UPDATE 8:34 p.m. – According to Jackie Barry, a spokesperson for National Grid, all customers in Narragansett should have gotten their power restored as of 8:11 p.m.

Barry said they did have to cut power to about 2,500 customers in order to make repairs. As of 7:30 p.m., electricity was restored to all but 315 customers.

Unless the company is in the dark about another area of town, you should have your power back. (Note: Horrible pun by me, not Jackie.)

Fierce winds are being blamed for an electrical fire on power pole lines at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday on South Pier Road near Narragansett High School.

At about that time, houses on Ocean Road, South Pier Road and extending down toward the South End and the Salt Pond Plaza lost power. Some have since been restored.

As of about 7:15 p.m., several National Grid crews were on South Pier Road working to restore power. Police have blocked the road off to traffic at the high school, citing a down, live electrical wire. The fire had been extinguished, but a fire truck was also on scene to monitor the repairs.

According to one employee, some additional lines in the area would have to be shutoff until repairs could be made safely on the fire damaged line.

According to National Grid’s online service restoration chart, as many as 2,500 customers in Narragansett could be effected. The estimated time of service return ranges from 8:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.