Over 5,000 Delmarva Power customers lost electric for over nine hours Wednesday Aug. 8, when a transformer/circuit breaker failed and caught fire at a DP & L sub-station near Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Firefighters from Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, and Bethany Beach responded to the blaze at 5:55 p.m. Triple-digit temperatures took a toll on crews and the several thousand visitors who were in the resort on the summer vacation.
Crews had to allow the fire to burn until power could be secured. They also used foam to extinguish the oil that was burning.
No injuries were reported, and no PCB'S were involved as the equipment contained mineral oil for the coolant.
Power was restored about 3 a.m. Thursday.
The City of Rehoboth Beach opened the Convention Center as a place of refuge for anyone who needed relief from the heat.
Fire crews cleared the scene after two hours.
