DEVENS — Much of Devens experienced an hour-long power outage Tuesday around noon that inconvenienced business activity, halted cooking, and disabled computers and gas pumps.
The ordeal was caused after a tree fell onto a power line off Hospital Road near the bridge to Shirley. The tree was dislodged by an excavator during soil remediation work.
Wires draped over the boom of the excavator made removing the lead bullet contaminated soil at the former Army small arms range difficult.
The power line is connected to a substation within the former Oak housing area. A lineman dispatched to the scene within minutes shut off power until the excavator could be moved. The damaged line was bypassed and power returned shortly afterward.
None of the MassDevelopment contractors from Charter Communications were injured, according to workers at the scene. — Don Eriksson