Downtown Electricity Back After Dark Afternoon with Traffic Lights Off, Few Stores Open

Editor’s note: Power was restored by 7 p.m., Monday.  For more information, see this follow-up article.

Update 9:04 p.m.:

Electricity returned to downtown by 8:15 p.m.

Update 6:55 p.m.:

A drive through downtown Darien at 6:40 p.m. showed electricity had not yet been restored between the railroad bridge and the Interstate 95 bridge.

A utility crew was working on wires just on the Norwalk side of the I-95 bridge over the Post Road.

Update 5:08 p.m.:

Darien police say there were reports of a transformer explosion near downtown, which may have caused the outage.

According to Eversource, 378 customers in Darien were without power as of 5:08 p.m.

Update 4:46 p.m.:

Power is expected back downtown by 6 p.m., a spokesman for Eversource said.

Mitch Gross, a spokesman for the utility, said utility crews were working on a problem with a downed power line off of West Avenue near the New Haven Line railroad tracks.

Darien Fire Marshal Robert Buch said the problem that brought a Darien Volunteer Fire Department truck to 1020 Post Road was an electrical fire in the wiring under air-handling units in the Merrill Lynch offices upstairs.

Buch didn’t know whether the problem was related to the power outage that covered the downtown area along the Post Road between the railroad bridge and the Interstate 95 overpass.

Update 3:36 p.m.:

The power outage did not appear to have affected stores on the east (Norwalk) side of the railroad bridge, or on the west (Stamford) side of the Interstate 95 bridge along the Post Road.

East of the railroad bridge lights were still on at 2:20 p.m. at Planet Pizza and, across the street, the new Kumon storefront next to Bella Pietra store at 895 Post Road.

The first store west of the highway bridge Charles Michael Gallery at 1292 Post Road had lights on, as did businesses farther from the bridge.

The Post Office had a hand-written sign up on the front door saying it was closed due to the power outage.

Update 3:19 p.m.:

The power outage that hit downtown Darien started with lines down on West Avenue, reported at about 1:20 p.m., according to Eversource, the electric utility covering Darien.

Crews are working on the problem, but they don’t expect to bring electricity back before 5 p.m., said Mitch Gross, a spokesman for the utility, which was formerly known as Connecticut Light & Power.

Original article, 3:07 p.m.:

A power outage starting at about 2 p.m. (according to a store clerk) in downtown Darien along the Post Road between the I-95 overpass and the railroad bridge closed businesses and knocked out traffic lights.

Stop signs were put up at intersections as hesitant drivers slowly stopped and started. Kitchen staff from restaurants, still wearing their white work clothing, caught some shade outdoors as they stood around in the hot weather.

Some stores, including Helen Ainson, had handmade “Open” signs in the windows (and Helen Ainson also had an “Open” flag out front). Others, including Wells Fargo Bank at the corner of Center Street and the Post Road, had “Closed” signs.

At 1020 Post Road, a Darien Volunteer Fire Department truck was parked with lights blinking, and a fan was set up in front of an open door in the arched passage.

Buildings were dark up and down the Post Road, with Darien Sport Shop apparently the only exception.

The store had tweeted earlier in the day that it was still open despite a paving project blocking the parking lot vehicle entrance to the Post Road. A mere power outage couldn’t close the store either — it was relying on a power generator and had some lights (not all). The first floor was still cool by 2:20 p.m., although the third floor was said to be much warmer.

Correction: Helen Ainson store was still open at about 2:20 p.m. An early version of this article misidentified the store (as Spree, next door).