METHUEN — A pair of geese out for a lunchtime flight along the Spicket River flew into power lines yesterday that carry 28,000 volts of electricity, knocking out power to 19,000 homes and businesses along the Route 28 corridor from Lawrence to Windham.
The strike killed one goose, injured the other, and caused a brush fire.
Power was restored to most of the area by around 1:30 p.m., but several manufacturers — Polartec, Acadia Mills, Barrett Warehouse and Century Box Co. — lost power for longer as National Grid crews worked to repair the lines fouled by the fowl.
According to Dave Graves of National Grid, Lawrence had the highest number of people affected with 9,500, followed by Salem with 6,000 and Methuen with 3,300. Only 420 customers were affected in Windham.
In addition to the power outage, the mishap caused a small brush fire along the railroad tracks below Immaculate Conception Cemetery on Currant Hill Road. The fire could be seen from behind the Acadia Mills complex, an industrial park with 18 or 20 tenants on Chase Street.
Fire crews from Methuen spent several hours at the scene dousing the dry underbrush with water. An area along the tracks was blackened by the blaze.
Acadia Mills owners Richard Boisvert and John Provalosi were sitting out behind their building around lunchtime when they saw two large geese laboring to get airborne from the water of the Spicket River. As they rose, they flew into three low-hanging power lines that cross the river.
The lines are used to bring 28,000 volts of electricity to the mill buildings, where tenants are involved in various manufacturing and other business endeavours, Provalosi said.
He said the crash caused a huge, blue explosion. The explosion in turn jarred loose several of the cables, which then fell into the brush on the opposite side of the river, igniting the fire.
A second explosion could be heard, which then tripped a fuse that knocked out power to the area, according to a National Grid worker on scene behind the Acadia Mills building.
One of the geese was killed instantly, but the other goose flew into the parking lot near Boisvert and Provalosi.
"It was walking right toward us," Provalosi said. "It was smoking. It tried flapping its wings to fly, but couldn't. Then it disappeared."
A worker at the company said he looked along the riverbank for the injured bird, but was unable to find it.
Shawn Foy, president of Proxy Manufacturing, one of the tenants of the Acadia Mills complex, said the outage stopped production at his company and he would likely be sending his 30 employees home for the day.
"No computers, no company," he said, noting that most of the functions of the company are automated and run by computer. His company makes circuit boards for area companies.
Polartec, meanwhile, sent most of its 400 to 500 employees home for the day about 1 p.m., according to several workers gathered outside the side door of the plant.
Also affected by the outage were Barrett Warehouse and Century Box, both on Chase Street.
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