Turrell Manor has been restored to normal after a transformer fire Saturday night that affected its cable and elevator services, according to Brian Hughes, Turrell's residence hall director.
"Cable service was restored Monday morning," Hughes said in an email. "Fortunately, their equipment was also surge protected and they simply needed to close the tripped circuit breakers. The elevator is also fully back in service."
According to Hughes, a possible cause of the transformer fire was a power surge caused by a lightning strike at "an unknown distance that traveled down the lines." The fire was located in the transformer box on the pole in the corner of the rear parking lot above the dumpsters.
Hughes said Turrell residents were evacuated, and the South Orange Fire Department responded to the fire.
PSE&G workers responded Saturday night to make repairs to the affected areas at 11:45 p.m. which included cutting the power supply to Turrell, surrounding homes and traffic lights, according to Hughes.
Power has since been restored, according to Hughes.
Hughes also stressed the importance of using surge-protected power strips.
"Despite being well-protected, a PSE&G transformer was set on fire due to an unexpected voltage surge," Hughes said. "Had that surge traveled down the lines that provide Turrell with direct power, it could have continued along interior lines to resident appliances (TV's, computers, etc.) with similar results. When plugged into a surge protector, however, these appliances have an extra line of defense that can prevent their destruction and a possible apartment fire."
This will not affect summer housing for those electing to live in Turrell during the break.
Jessica Sutcliffe can be reached at jessica.sutcliffe@student.shu.edu.
