I will never let my good friend and colleague Amanda Reavy forget how I filled in for her the night of Nov. 10, 2007.

It started out as a routine night in the newsroom. Mike Kienzler, who was the dayside Metro editor, was filling in for someone as well.

The first sign something was up: the lights flickered. Then came the 911 dispatcher’s voice over the police scanner — there’d been reports of an explosion at the City Water, Light and Power plant. I packed up my stuff and sped over to Stevenson Drive, calling my husband at home to tell him what was being reported and urging him to get out candles and matches just in case.

The first thing I saw near the power plant was lots of flashing emergency vehicle lights. But the thing I’ll always remember most vividly was what I heard. It sounded like a huge, loud jet engine was whining over the plant.

No one was injured in the explosion, thank goodness.

Explosion at CWLP / No injuries reported, but damage appears severe
Nov. 11, 2007

City Water, Light and Power’s main power plant was severely damaged Saturday night by a series of explosions and a spectacular fire.

The blast – one large explosion followed by about a dozen smaller ones – occurred about 6:50 p.m. No one was injured, and the oil- and wind-fed fire was extinguished by 10 p.m.

“There is a lot of damage,” said Jay Bartlett, chief utilities engineer for CWLP. He estimated it will amount to “in the many millions of dollars.

“This was a very, very significant shockwave that came from this explosion,” Bartlett said.

However, he said, ” power plants are fixable. Our concern always is nobody’s hurt.”

“We’re lucky,” he said. “We’re blessed.”

The city late Saturday was operating with electricity produced by CWLP’s auxiliary generators and power purchased off the nationwide grid. Aside from brief and isolated outages early in the evening, officials said, customers should see no effects from the explosion and fire.

The explosion took place in a brick building that houses the Dallman 1, 2 and 3 generators, the city’s main sources of electricity,

Bartlett said the first and largest explosion was caused by an electrical failure in an undetermined component, apparently located between the Dallman 1 generator and a “stepup transformer” – a unit that converts electricity from 20,000 to 69,000 volts – that caught fire.

He ruled out coal dust as a cause, as some officials had speculated early in the evening, but said engineers remained unsure late Saturday exactly what sparked the original blast.

Springfield Fire Department spokesman Bob Reside said a large section of an exterior brick wall on the building’s fourth floor collapsed into the interior of the building during the fire.

“This just shows how dangerous this has gotten because of damage to the structure,” Reside said. “We have to expect further collapse.”

The fire was fueled by oil leaking from damaged and blazing power transformers and boosted by a 15-mph wind that gusted up to 24 mph.

“Transformers contain oil, and it is burning and has spilled out of the transformers,” Reside said at about 8:30 p.m.

Eleven employees were inside the plant when the explosions occurred, but all evacuated safely. Bartlett lauded the employees for protecting and removing equipment after the blast.

There was no danger to the public from chemical fumes, and the fire posed no threat to nearby businesses or residences, Reside said.

Witnesses reported one large explosion, followed by 10 to 15 smaller ones. The explosion was followed by a steam release from the power plant, which many who heard it compared to the sound made by a jet engine.

The Dallman 1 unit, which was operating when the explosion occurred, suffered the most damage. Dallman 3, CWLP’s single biggest unit, continued to operate for about 90 minutes after the explosion, until it was shut down to protect firefighters. Officials expect to know today when it can be restarted. Dallman 2 already was out of service for scheduled maintenance.

CWLP has a variety of other generators, but officials said late Saturday they will use whatever power is cheapest at any one point, whether it’s produced in Springfield or has to be purchased from elsewhere, until CWLP’s situation stabilizes.

The explosion will have no effect on construction of the city’s $500 million new power plant being built elsewhere on the CWLP complex at Lake Springfield, Bartlett said.

Several suburban fire departments were called to staff Springfield fire stations while city firefighters responded to the CWLP incident. The Sherman and Chatham departments sent aerial trucks to the power plant after a city truck experienced mechanical problems.

Reside called the jet-like sound of steam being released a normal process for the power plant.

“It’s still producing steam,” Reside said of the power plant during an 8:30 p.m. briefing. “Because it’s not being used for generation … it gets vented out so that the boiler doesn’t explode.”

The fire department had plans in place to handle an emergency at the plant, he said, and the response was “textbook.”

“Actually, it’s going very well, other than unforeseen breakdowns and so forth,” he said.

A hazardous materials team responded, as did the Citizens Emergency Response Team. The American Red Cross provided drinks and food for emergency workers.

Dozens of CWLP employees also came to the plant to help if needed.

Police detoured motorists away from the area of Dirksen Parkway, Taylor Avenue and Stevenson Drive during the incident, and interstate off-ramps were closed near CWLP.

While the damage was serious, Bartlett described the ultimate financial impact to CWLP as low.

“This plant’s insured,” he said. “We’ll certainly have some deductibles to pick up.”

Witnesses report large explosion, many smaller ones
Nov. 11, 2007

Residents, restaurant diners, shoppers and hotel lodgers across Springfield’s southeast side were startled Saturday evening by a thunderous explosion, followed by about a dozen smaller blasts.

If that wasn’t enough, lights all over the city began flickering within moments. And then came the overpowering jet-like sound of steam being released from a stack at City Water, Light and Power’s electric generating station at Lake Springfield.

The odor of hot electricity mixed with coal dust as smoke from the fire inside the plant drifted for miles.

Micki Dickerson, who was at the nearby Capital City Shopping Center on Dirksen Parkway, said the first explosion “sounded like the loudest thunder you ever heard – it shook the windows and the building.”

“The first explosion was real loud and the second almost as loud. We went outside, and then it sounded like gunfire – boom, boom, boom. Then it stopped for a second and started right back up,” she said.

Then she started hearing the sound of the steam release.

“Now, it sounds like you’re standing too close to a jet,” she said shortly after the blast. “It’s still going on. You can’t hear the sirens for the sounds of the power plant.”

Tammy Brown, who lives on South 13th Street, e-mailed The State Journal-Register to say, “The entire back half of my house vibrated at ten ’til 7. It felt like something hit the house.”

“Then I heard a long series of what sounded like gunshots. At least a minute or so in length. I thought a house in my neighborhood was on fire or had been damaged,” she wrote.

Brown likewise reported a sound like “an airplane engine” as steam was released from the plant.

City officials did not brief reporters about what happened until 8:30 p.m., so speculation ran rampant on radio airwaves and among residents about what was going on.

Many people apparently were concerned about the possibility of toxic gases being released by the explosion, and others wanted to know if they should expect to lose power during the night.

Ozkan Dogan, manager of the Hampton Inn, 3185 S. Dirksen Parkway, a few blocks from the power plant, said everyone at the hotel felt the explosions. A short time later, he saw smoke drifting across the sky and heard ambulances and other emergency vehicles converging on the area.

“We tried to keep people calm,” he said, noting that some student groups were staying at the hotel.

He said employees checked The State Journal-Register’s Web site for updates, and he walked across the street to a hotel closer to the power plant to see if they needed a place to evacuate their guests. He said his main goal was to keep Hampton Inn guests abreast of what was happening.

“They just came down here, and we told them to be calm and we would inform them as we got information,” he said.

Dave and Sharon Painter of Springfield were eating at Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill, 2600 S. Dirksen Parkway, shortly before 7 p.m.

“We heard and then felt a big explosion, then the lights flickered,” they said. “There was an electrical burning smell coming into the restaurant.”

Carl and Marge Wilson, who live on Saxony Road, walked over to the Capital City Shopping Center to watch the commotion from the parking lot and to wait for word about what happened.

“I was cooking and heard a big boom,” said Marge Wilson. “My husband looked out the door and said, ‘Wait ’til you see this …’”

Carl Wilson added: “It sounded like a bomb went off.”

Lake will remain closed / Saturday’s explosion at CWLP plant left asbestos-laden debris
Nov. 12, 2007

Lake Springfield will be closed to boaters indefinitely while officials assess damage at the city’s power plant and start to clean up asbestos-laden debris around the site of Saturday night’s explosion.

Some oil was flushed onto the lake during the firefighting effort, and officials want to keep boats from disturbing the water while cleanup is under way, they said Sunday.

City Water, Light and Power officials said Environmental Protection Agency tests for finished water quality from Lake Springfield, taken Sunday, indicated the water is clean and safe to drink.

Environmental contractors have been at the blast site, isolating and removing oil in the dam area of Lake Springfield. Additional tests on finished water quality are scheduled for today.

The cause of the explosion, which rocked the city about 6:50 p.m. Saturday, remains under investigation. No one was injured.

Mayor Tim Davlin on Sunday said the cost to repair the Dallman generating facility, where the blast took place, will be in the tens of millions of dollars.

“Our new power plant (scheduled for completion in 2010) will probably be fully functional before even this is functional. That tells you the magnitude of what’s happened out there,” he said. “We’re basically going to start from scratch in a lot of different areas. This isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight, and it’s going to be one expensive proposition when we’re finished.”

Jay Bartlett, CWLP’s chief utilities engineer, said the damage is extensive. Several walls are missing. Shrapnel punctured the roof and structural steel in the building. The turbine generator housed in the building was destroyed, as was a step-up transformer on the outside of the building. The transformer that feeds the unit and a multitude of other electrical apparatus and wiring also were destroyed.

Davlin thanked other communities for coming to the assistance of Springfield during the ordeal and said the city is lucky no one was injured or killed in the accident.

There were 11 workers at the plant at the time of the explosion. Davlin said one man was 15 feet away and several others were seconds away from being seriously injured or killed.

“This is a magnitude that probably none of us are going to realize the real expense for quite some time. It’s unbelievable. On any other given day, had it been 7 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon, there probably could have been 20 people that would have been either injured or killed right where this happened,” he said.

Davlin said progress reports on the cleanup and the investigation will be spotty, though an update will be provided to aldermen at Wednesday evening’s city council utilities committee meeting.

Bartlett and CWLP general manager Todd Renfrow provided additional information about the explosion and about the cleanup efforts.

Officials have created an investigation team of CWLP engineers and firefighters to try to determine what caused the blast.

Davlin already has been asked to sign an emergency order releasing $3 million to $4 million to cover the early costs of cleanup and asbestos and oil removal and to secure the building.

As of 7 a.m. Sunday, structural engineers were at the plant assessing the damage to the building, and they determined the entire structure was not compromised. One major concern, however, is that some walls will have to be taken down, and there is a potential for frozen pipes.

“We have to get the walls that have been damaged down and then have some type of enclosure and be able to put heat in the building. There are many, many miles of lines in there, especially water lines,” Renfrow said.

CWLP on Sunday was generating 100 percent of the city’s electricity.

The Dallman 1 generator was severely damaged and will be out of commission for some time. Dallman 3 – the biggest generator CWLP owns – should be back in operation after some cleanup work, possibly in about a week, Bartlett said.

Dallman 2 is shut down for scheduled maintenance.

Because of the asbestos release, everyone going into the site must wear masks and protective clothing.

The oil that seeped into the lake was the result of firefighting efforts.

“(Saturday) night what was burning was oil. The fire department obviously was hitting it with a huge deluge of water and foam to get the fire under control,” Bartlett said. “That rinsed some oil. We have retaining systems that grab some of it, most of it, but a little bit unfortunately escaped just due to the volume of water that was out there. There’s no more oil leaking.”

Bartlett said there was no immediate indication whether human error or mechanical failure was to blame for the blast. He said the investigation should shed some light on that.

“I expect mechanical failure, but we are ruling out nothing,” he said.

Seeking answers after blast? ‘Tough,’ says mayor
Nov. 12, 2007

“Tough.”

That was Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin’s response Sunday when pressed about why it took officials two hours Saturday to release information to the public about the power plant explosions and possible dangers to the community.

Tough?

“It’s the best we could do. Tough,” Davlin reiterated.

Davlin and other officials had little information themselves early in the incident, they said, and their top priorities were quelling the power plant fire and making sure City Water, Light and Power workers and firefighters were safe.

People all over the city felt the rumble of the explosions, saw their lights flicker, heard the jet-engine-like whine of steam being released from CWLP smokestacks, smelled the odor of coal and heat, and wondered about the clouds of smoke drifting over the town.

During that two-hour void of information, citizens were calling media outlets, looking for news about what happened. Tourists at hotels logged onto the Internet seeking details.

They wanted to know if there were toxins in the air, if they should expect to lose power to their homes and businesses, if they should worry about the noise of the steam release and if they needed to evacuate. They also wondered if anyone had been hurt and when could they expect to learn more.

No preliminary information – even a simple confirmation there had been an explosion at the power plant and that more information would be forthcoming – was communicated to newsrooms in the city, and no one in a position to know what had happened could be reached on cell phones. Reporters who tried to reach the power plant were shooed from location to location as they tried to find out what was going on.

The first information was provided by a Springfield Fire Department spokesman about 8:30 p.m. The Springfield Police Department also provided a little information at that time about its role, which mainly had to do with street closures.

City Water, Light and Power officials finally held a briefing at 9:30 p.m. The mayor’s office released no details at all.

Prior to those briefings, what information was available came mainly from conversations among police, fire and other emergency agencies broadcast on radio scanners. For instance, scanner traffic was the first source to reveal that no one had been killed or injured.

The State Journal-Register posted its first Web bulletin on www.sj-r.com about 15 minutes after the first blast. The Web site was updated about a half-dozen times between then and the first briefings. Most of the early updates were based on scanner traffic, along with telephoned or e-mailed reports from readers.

The newspaper Web site was updated several more times as the briefings took place, and the full story – the same account that appeared in Sunday’s newspaper – was posted shortly before midnight.

Davlin said the city’s first priority Saturday night was ensuring that power plant employees were unharmed and that firefighters were able to safely able to do their jobs.

However, the lack of information also led to rumors – in particular, reports disseminated mainly by callers to talk radio stations – that a cloud of toxic dust and gases was hovering over southeast Springfield.

“At the time when that was happening last night, I think the main thing that was out there was there was an explosion,” Davlin said. “No one knew what was going on. No one could have said whether it happened or whether anything was toxic or not.

“We didn’t think so, but to go and make statements like that. … Last night the most important thing was just making sure the fire got knocked down.

“I take all the responsibility for not having that out. Like after the tornado or anything else, it was just everyone had a job to do last night.”

City Water, Light and Power director Todd Renfrow and chief utilities engineer Jay Bartlett said they hope to do better in the future.

“There’s always room for improvement, but I’m going to tell you (that) last night 100 percent of my time was going into trying to keep, basically, firemen safe,” Bartlett said.

“I know it’s scary. My kids were scared. They were scared when I went. They wanted to know where I was, and they knew something was going on. We understand, but we were doing the best we could.”

The lack of information Saturday night was similar to what happened during a weeklong citywide mock disaster drill in July 2005 – which, coincidentally, included a power plant explosion scenario.

During the early part of the drill, which was meant to be as realistic as possible, officials were unprepared for media inquiries. Reporters who went to event “scenes” were told to move multiple times, no spokesmen were available, and city hall held a briefing more than five hours after the initial incidents. Officials began to provide hourly updates only after reporters complained.

The city has four spokespeople: one for the mayor’s office, one for CWLP, one for the fire department and one for the police department.