When Tufts went dim on Friday, upperclassmen got a serious case of déjà vu. But this time, the university says it was better equipped to help students make their way through the darkness.
An underground cable failure and subsequent electrical fire in downtown Medford on Friday caused a power outage that blanketed Tufts' campus and most of the city, leaving students without power until early Saturday morning.
The outage, which coincided with the annual Parents Weekend, hearkened back to the 14-hour blackout that had overtaken Tufts almost exactly one year before. After that incident, which was sparked by a blown fuse on campus, most students complained that a flawed emergency alert system had offered slow and limited information.
This time, Tufts used Send Word Now, its alert system, to circulate four text messages and e-mails over the course of Friday, and one on Saturday when power was restored.
When dormitories' fob entry systems died, the university put all resident assistants (RAs) on duty to supplement an increased police force. Students largely said they felt safe despite the lack of power and eventual darkness.
"I didn't feel unsafe," said freshman Laurie Rabin, who lives in Houston Hall. "There were a lot of people on my floor, so it seemed pretty safe. And someone was at the door all night."
Rabin said the outage did disrupt her parents' visit, though. "They wanted to see everything around campus, but everything was shut down. It wasn't that they were that inconvenienced, but more disappointed," she said.
Power across campus went out at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Friday, when an underground electrical cable failed in Medford Square, causing damage to a cluster of cables nearby and sparking the fire, according to Deborah Drew, company spokesperson for National Grid, the utility company responsible for the area and the primary supplier of Tufts' power. The feed for Tufts was one of the cables compromised by the flames, Drew told the Daily.
The fire interrupted power service for approximately 7,000 Medford residents. National Grid workers were able to restore power that afternoon to about half of those affected, by temporarily moving their power sources to other feeds, Drew said. The other half, which included the Tufts campus, underwent a "rather lengthy" outage that lasted close to 19 hours while workers made repairs to the cable.
National Grid workers were able to restore power to Tufts at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The power outage affected most of the campus, as the majority of Tufts' buildings on the Medford/Somerville campus rely on National Grid, according to Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler. Some buildings and departments with external generators, including Ballou and Barnum Halls and the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) office in Dowling Hall, retained power throughout the day.
Wood-framed houses on Tufts' downhill campus, including a number of Greek houses on Professor's Row, use a different power feeder and were not affected by the outage.
As soon as the university was notified of the outage, a number of departments collaborated to respond.
TUPD benefits from timely staff meeting
TUPD called in extra officers and stationed them throughout campus. Capt. Mark Keith said that the police immediately canceled the monthly staff meeting scheduled for that day and put the supervisors who had come for the meeting on regular duty.
"That worked out well, having an extra half a dozen people at our disposal," Keith said.
TUPD also called in at least three officers from a later shift. By noon on Friday, Keith said 10 to 12 police officers were on duty for the rest of the day until 7 a.m. Saturday. Five campus security officers were also on campus for the overnight shift.
Keith said that TUPD received no reports of crime incidents stemming from the outage.
"The entire overnight shift while the power was out was relatively quiet as far as calls," Keith said. "Two off-campus party calls and a couple of regulars, but nothing to do with the blackout."
Senior Director of Public Safety John King said that the night was "remarkably quiet," adding that he saw a considerable number of students leaving campus to avoid the outage.
Power outage comes full circle
Friday's outage brought back memories of last year's blackout, which occurred on Oct. 12, 2008, as a result of a power failure in a transfer station near Dowling Hall.
Technical Services Manager Geoffrey Bartlett said that the administration worked to improve its protocol following last year's blackout after a number of students voiced concerns. He said the improvements were manifested in the response this year.
"In general, the utility outage went remarkably well, no reports of any injuries, [and] a number of different organizations of the university came together to try to address the situation."
Keith, of TUPD, agreed that last year's response had offered a valuable foundation for administrators.
"I think that our response this time around seemed to be effective," Keith said. "I'm not aware of anything right now that went terribly wrong, but there's always room for improvement."
Various departments of the university, including public safety, facilities, TUPD and other administrators, will likely meet sometime this week, both King and Keith said, to discuss the university's response and strategies for future incidents of this nature.
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Katherine Sawyer contributed reporting to this article.
