Power Line Fire Cuts Cable, Web Service in Pittsfield
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An electrical fire near Time Warner affect 16,000 customers' cable, Internet and phone service for two hours. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An electrical fire near the Time Warner Cable building left some 16,000 customers without Internet, phone or cable for about an hour on Thursday afternoon.
The fire also knocked Pittsfield Community Television off the air, although officials with the public access station said there was no damage to their side of the building.
Time Warner spokeswoman Joli Plucknette-Farmen said an electrical fire involving an underground Western Massachusetts Electric Co. power line cut power to the Time Warner hub on Frederico Drive.
The fire occurred at about 3 p.m. and Time Warner service was restored just before 4 p.m.
"We have a generator backup for when things like this happen," said Plucknette-Farmen.
She said the building is not believed to have suffered any damage and that the customer service center was closed for the rest of the afternoon but will be open Friday for regular hours.
The PCTV offices were also closed as crews from Time Warner, WMECo and Berkshire Gas, among others, descended on the building. Also arriving were customers trying to find out why their television and Internet weren't working. A sign on the door directed them to the company's 800 number, which simply informed callers that service was temporarily out in their area.
Full power restoration was estimated at 3 to 6 hours by those at the scene.
Tags: cable television, fire, Internet, Time Warner,
