PITTSBURGH - Dominion Peoples is re-lighting customers street-by-street
after an outage in the southern Butler County, northern Allegheny County area.
Customers are asked not to attempt to re-light pilot lights and restore service
themselves.
Dominion brought in extra crews from throughout its Pennsylvania,
Ohio and West Virginia service area to reopen lines, test them and re-light
pilot lights. Customers must be home to admit crew members. All crew members
will have company photo identification badges. If customers are not at home,
crew members will leave a tag on the door with the phone number for the customer
to call.
About 2,800 customers lost service because of a blockage in
a transmission line. The blockage is cleared, many customers are back on and
the majority are expected to be back on today.
Service restoration steps include: shutting off the flow of
gas, purging the lines of air, re-pressurize the system by section, re-lighting
appliance pilot lights and inspecting appliances. Access to the inside of a
home is necessary to restore service.
Because of the extremely cold temperatures, Dominion Peoples
reminds customers to stay warm. Some tips:
Check on their neighbors and especially the elderly to
make sure they have heat or transportation to a shelter.
Use electric space heaters, fireplaces, etc. in a safe
manner.
Winterize your home to avoid freezing water lines and drains.
Many churches and other agencies have set up shelters.
Among them are:
Saxonburg Primary School, 328 Knoch Road, Saxonburg
Pa. Telephone Red Cross at (724) 283-2810.
Highland High School, 1500 Pacific Avenue, Natrona
Heights at (724) 226-1000.
Allegheny Valley Hospital is accepting consumers with
special needs-health, medical needs, etc.
