CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A power outage in Boone County left thousands without power.
More than 5,000 Appalachian Power customers throughout the county found themselves without service after a forest fire burned down a large, three-pole wood transmission line structure that serves the area.
The structure that burned Wednesday night is in a difficult location, said customer service manager Alan Bragg. Crews will likely be working for two to three days to cut an access road into the area and get the new structure in place.
Bragg said crews are also working in a substation to restore electric service using alternate lines. By Thursday evening, power was expected to have been restored to about 4,000 customers around the Madison area.
The remaining 1,200 customers, primarily in the Van, Gordon, Williams Mountain, Twilight and Bob White areas, should have electric service restored by noon Friday.
Bragg said another update would be provided Friday morning.