Fire causes prolonged power outage for 5 Nevada towns

January 20, 2019 Utah Channel 3

MESQUITE, Nev. — Over 15,000 Overton Power District No. 5 customers are currently experiencing a system-wide power outage caused by a fire Monday morning.

The outage started around 8 a.m. PST, when a small fire damaged a 230 KV transmission power line near the the Reid Gardner power plant in Moapa, said Keith Buchhalter, Overton Power District No. 5 public affairs representative.

The outage is affecting customers in Mesquite, Bunkerville, Logandale, Moapa and Overton.

The fire has been contained, but the damaged power pole is in need of replacement.

Because crews are dealing with a high voltage transmission line, the repairs may take some time and the power district is advising customers to plan for a prolonged outage which may last several hours.

“There’s some complexity to the operation,” Buchhalter said.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but may be due to high winds in the area earlier this morning.

“Unfortunately, we can’t control acts of nature. But we’re working hard to get all services restored,” Buchhalter said.

Updates will be available on the Overton Power District No. 5 Facebook page or by calling (702) 397-2512.

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