Ohio tower falls the wrong way

Thousands of people in Springfield, Ohio, lost power when a smoke stack at the former Mad River Power Plant fell the wrong way during its scheduled demolition.

No one was injured, but the tower knocked down two 12,500-volt power lines and a building in which back-up generators were being stored, the Springfield News-Sun reported.

This caused about 4,000 people on the west side of the city to lose electricity for around three hours, while traffic lights in at least nine intersections went down.

The live electrical lines collapsed as a crowd of about 25 people, including media, FirstEnergy staff and demolition crew members screamed and retreated.

"It just started leaning the other way ... It was terrifying for a little bit," fire chief John Roeder told the Springfield News-Sun.

The demolition had been planned for months. While the explosives detonated as planned, an undetected crack on the south side of the tower pulled it backward, said Lisa Kelly of Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc.

Operations at the plant ceased in 1981, according to Whio TV.

FirstEnergy, which owns the property, said the plant had been idle since then.

All the debris landed within the boundaries of the property.

FirstEnergy said it had worked with Advanced Explosives on other jobs, and that a lot of preparation went into the project.

"They've taken other towers twice the size of this one down without anything going on," external affairs manager Tim Suter said.

- NZ HERALD STAFF