Early morning accident causes 10-plus hour blackout in Andover

By Yadira Betances
Staff Writer

May 20, 2008 02:14 am

—

ANDOVER — Using just the sunlight shining through his shop window, Shaban Catalbas was sewing a suit jacket by hand, instead of on his sewing machine yesterday.

At the CVS/pharmacy, cashiers were only able to accept cash for purchases because the credit card machines were not working.

At Town Hall, there was a sign on the door announcing offices were closed due to a power outage.

Power was out for 101/2 hours after a Nissan Pathfinder crashed into a utility pole at Chestnut Street and Highland Road early yesterday morning. More than 600 customers were affected.

The car was driven by Andrew Brickley, 22, of 15 Glen Meadow Road in Andover.

Police day shift commander Lt. Harry Collins said Brickley was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to stay in marked lanes.

"He just ran off the road," Collins said.

The crash caused two poles to snap leaving one half suspended above the road, said fire Chief Michael Mansfield.

Electricity was not restored until 2:30 p.m., said Debra Drew, a spokeswoman for National Grid.

Highland Road was closed while National Grid replaced the poles.

"There were several wires which were not appropriately connected," Mansfield said. "Whenever we have a breach to the system, we take all precaution necessary to insure public safety."

While half a dozen crew members from National Grid worked to bring the power back, businesses along Chestnut Street went about their work the old-fashioned way.

Although there was a closed sign at Town Hall, employees in several departments were in their offices answering telephones and doing what work they could that did not require electricity.

Mary Donohue, Department of Community Services director, was concerned the guide for Andover's summer program was not going to be done on time, as they needed to proof many of its pages on the Internet.

"Computers are a tool that we use for everything and without them, it slows things down," Donohue said. "We hope a day's delay doesn't affect us that much."

In the community development and planning office, the telephones were relatively quiet, but Mary Ann Whittingham and her staff assisted residents who came to the counter to fill out applications.

Zafer Catalbas who was working at Shaban Tailor Shop on Chestnit Street, with his father, said of not having electricity, "You don't appreciate something until you don't have it."

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.