Ohio Substation Explodes in Blaze

The explosion was reported at about 5:20 a.m. at the substation, located along Karl and Norma roads, NBC 4 's Kyle Anderson reported.

A vortex of bright orange, swirling flames and thick black smoke could be seen for miles.

A toxic smoke poured across Karl Road and blanketed neighborhoods for blocks. As the sun rose, the intensity of the smoke became clearer, forcing fire officials to evacuate six homes in the area.

"We told everybody else to just basically stay inside until we could determine exactly what was burning," said Columbus fire battalion Chief Doug Smith.

Two of three transformers at the substation were burning, Anderson reported. For a while, the fire was out of control.

Firefighters could not extinguish the blaze with water because of the electricity. Instead, they had to use barrels of solvent and mix them with water to make foam.

"Each one of those transformers contained about 6,000 gallons of petroleum and that was our problem this morning we didn't have enough foam on the scene to put the fire out," Smith said.

Because of the size of the fire, Columbus had to call neighboring departments to help them supply the foam, Anderson reported. They drew help from as far away as Grandview Heights.

It brought down large power lines, causing damage that could take days to repair.

Mike Vogley, a 40-year AEP employee, helped build the substation.

"They wear out like anything else," Vogley said. "You have alternators in your car go -- that's electrical."

Vogley said he was at a loss as to how the fire started, but said he was in the same predicament with the rest of his neighbors.

Some neighbors who live near the substation said they thought an explosion was possible, but never dreamed that it would happen, NBC 4 's Duarte Geraldino reported.

"In my sleep, I could hear something go 'Boom,'" said Pam White, who lives nearby.

She said she jumped out of bed and looked out her kitchen window.

"All I could see was all this fire and smoke," White said. "Then when I went to the kitchen, I could feel the heat inside my house. All I could think about was getting my kid out of there and getting me out of there before anything happened."

White is among the many residents who share a property line with the AEP substation who were evacuated, Geraldino reported.

"It was a big, huge blaze of smoke," White said. "I have never seen anything like it. It was unbelievable."

The loss of electricity also affected roads. Two blocks away on Morse Road, with no functioning traffic lights, police had to direct traffic.

Schools and businesses were waiting to learn when their electricity would return following Monday's outage, NBC 4 's Elizabeth Scarborough reported.

Beechcroft High School student Maurice Clark was at school when he learned that Monday's classes were canceled.

"They were having us wait to see if they would be able to do anything about the lights," Clark said.

Fifteen schools were closed, Scarborough reported. Get the list by clicking here .

At Carfagna's, located along Dublin-Granville Road, their big problem was keeping the meat cold.

"It is our lifeline," said Sam Carfagna. "We do protect it the best we can."

The business has five main refrigerators, Scarborough reported.

Fifty-thousand pounds of meat valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars were inside.

A cousin with a generator and another cousin who is an electrician came to the rescue for the family business, Scarborough reported.

Other businesses and schools were awaiting word about when things would return to normal.

The American Red Cross was scheduled to open an emergency shelter at 6 p.m. for residents left without power from the transformer fire.

Residents living in the affected area may go to the Whetstone Community Recreation Center, located at 3923 North High St., where they will receive a meal and a warm place to stay overnight. Individuals are encouraged to bring bedding, medicines, and point of contact numbers for relatives and friends as well as photo identification.

Pets, weapons, alcohol or non-prescription drugs are not allowed in the shelters.

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