Posted: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:00 AM - 14,362 Readers

By: Austin-American Statesman

2:45 p.m. update: Austin Energy officials said that power has been restored to all customers from the S. Austin utility pole fires. Anyone still experiencing an outage is asked to call 322-910.

Earlier: Smoldering fires at two power utility poles triggered outages for 6,000 South Austin customers this afternoon, including outages at traffic signals along South Congress Avenue, an Austin Energy official said.

A build up of dust and dirt on electrical equipment on the poles, combined with misty conditions, helped trigger the smoldering fires at the utility poles, said spokesman Ed Clark.

The smoldering fires triggered outages for 6,000 customers for more than an hour starting at 12:15 p.m., Clark said. Austin Energy is re-routing power to the impacted customers, and hopes to have the outage completely resolved in the next hour, Clark said.

The outage impacted customers near the William Cannon Drive and Stassney Lane area, as well as the Interstate 35 and South First Street area, Clark said. Several signals along South Congress Avenue were also reported to be out.

By 1:45, about 4,000 customers were restored, Clark said. The remaining customers were expected to have power back within the hour, he said.