Power has been restored to some 19,000 homes in Lawrence, Methuen, and Salem, N.H., while three major Lawrence companies remain in the dark.
Local officials said the outage was caused by two geese flying into power lines behind Acadia Mills on Chase Street in Methuen. A brush fire resulted. The lines were carrying 28,000 volts of electricity.
But National Grid spokesman David Graves said the cause is still being investigated. Lawrence has the highest number of people affected with 9,500, followed by Salem, N.H. with 6,000 and Methuen with 3,300. Only 420 customers were affected in Windham, N.H.
"We don't know the cause of it," Graves said. "We have crews out there to determine the source of the problem."
Sources told The Eagle-Tribune that Acadia Mills, Polartec and Century Box Company remained without power and that power would likely not be restored until the end of the day. Polartec reportedly sent all of its employes home.
Lawrence's Acting Director of Public Works John Isenee said power outages were in the Tower Hill Neighborhood and the northern part of the city.
Methuen Mayor William Manzi said power was out in the Arlington Neighborhood, the downtown and Route 28 area. He said they lost power to the police station and senior center as well.
For further details, check back at eagletribune.com
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