By Megan Boatwright, Local News 8 Reporter
2,000 customers in Idaho Falls lost power for two hours Tuesday. The outages affected everyone north of 17th St. and east of the Northgate mile.
Homes, businesses and traffic stops around town were affected by the outage. For most, power was restored by 1 p.m. but not until after police spent a few hours redirecting traffic, and some lucky kids got out of school early.
According to Idaho Falls Power a power pole fire caused the outage. The power company says rain and a cracked insulator is what caused the pole on Bonneville Ave. to catch fire.
Lights went black at the intersection of Woodruff and Lincoln making for some close calls until police arrived to direct traffic.
Officers and citizens watch patrol directed traffic at five intersections while Idaho Falls Power crews put out the last of the fire.
For Dora Erickson Elementary School kids lights out ended up meaning school's out. "The bathroom was pitch dark," said Jessup Nichols.
"The computer and the lights just went out," said 1st Grader Lyric Davis.
"There were no emergency lights in the boy's bathroom," said Braydon Gines.
Even though power was back by the time most parents made it to pick up, District 91 said it was the best thing to do.
"Classrooms didn't have lights and none of the restrooms had lights, so it was primarily a safety issue," said Superintendent George Bolland. "Where it appeared that it was going to be a majority of the afternoon we didn't want to keep students in school."
Idaho Falls Power hoped power would be restored to the final 600 customers by 6 p.m.
Claire E. Gail Junior High Students were also let out early. Idaho Falls Police said no accidents were caused by the outage.
