Power Outage Temporarily Hits Needham

Power outages struck Needham Wednesday morning, complicating an already rainy commute for drivers.

Power was out at the Needham Library for "about 40 minutes," according to employees at the circulation desk, but has since been restored. The office of the Fire Department additionally reported outages earlier, as well as Needham High School, and several storefronts along Highland Ave. this morning were visibly dark. 

Outages began during the 10 o'clock hour with the traffic light at West and Highland one of the first problems reported.

The cause for the power failures, said Fire Chief Paul Buckley, was a blown fuse/switch on an Nstar primary line on Webster St.

"That line feeds over half of the town, including many traffic lights," said Buckley. "Some good quick collaborative efforts between police, fire, Nstar, DPW, schools and the Town Manager's office kept things operating somewhat smoothly."

Buckley related that most of the power has been re-routed until a fuse can be replaced tomorrow. He also said that it is unclear as to whether or not today's rain played a factor.