Lightning was identified as the cause of a power outage in the western portion of La Plata County on Tuesday.
Service went out at 8:07 a.m. and impacted 1,071 customers as well as Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary. It was restored at 9:49 a.m.
La Plata Electric Association spokesperson Indiana Reed said crews determined lightning as the source that impacted service in several small ranching communities in the western part of the county including Hesperus, Breen, Marvel and Shenandoah.
“There were reports of massive lightning in the area west of the county,” Reed said. “Our crews went to inspect our Shenandoah substation and found no damage; they just had to reset some settings.”
The Shenandoah substation is located along County Road 125, west of Durango city limits.
Durango School District 9-R reported back-up generators were working at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary, but phone service was intermittent earlier Tuesday morning.
School district spokeswoman Julie Popp reported some lights were out, but water was working and the school day was functioning as usual. The school district notified families when service was restored.
LPEA customers can check the status of power outages and how many customers are impacted at www.lpea.coop:81.
jpace@durangoherald.com
