East End Left in Dark for Several Hours
Volume 49, Issue 9
By Mike Lavers

A sudden power outage caused by a construction worker who struck an underground power line while installing a fence in the Fire Island Pines left wide swaths of the island in the dark for several hours on Wednesday, August 3.

Michael Lowndes of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) told The News that the incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. when the contractor struck the high-voltage cable. The contractor was not injured in the incident, but Davis Park, Water Island and the Pines were left in the dark until early the next morning. Cherry Grove, Ocean Beach and Captree Island were also affected by the outage, but all saw power restored within three hours of the incident.

Lowndes said that LIPA does everything it can to prevent these types of outages. But he advised local contractors to be aware of underground cables and power lines before they begin work on a site.

“We try to do everything to keep it from happening,” Lowndes said. “[Contractors are strongly urged to call the local utility to make sure they are not in an area where there is an underground utility. They should always check.”