Updated: 1/24/02, 11:21 a.m.
A break in the power grid system on the Bakersfield College main campus caused a disruption of power and a shutdown of the campus, as well as a cancellation of all classes Wednesday.
Power was restored late Wednesday night, allowing classes on the main campus to resume today.
The initial outage happened at 4:03 p.m. Tuesday, when a load line that connected power to the Gil Bishop Sports Center failed, according to Juan Gutierrez, BC’s public information specialist.
“We’ve found the line and we’re working to repair it for classes (Thursday),” Gutierrez said Wednesday before power was restored. “People are doing walk-throughs to find out more, but it’s just a matter of getting the parts and repairing them as soon as possible.”
Officials announced Tuesday night that all classes at the main campus on Panorama Drive scheduled to start between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday were canceled. Evening classes were canceled at approximately noon on Wednesday after workers failed to restore power to the entire campus.
BC maintenance workers, along with BC’s electrical contractor, A-C Electric, worked to isolate the problem and restore parts of the campus throughout the day.
Gutierrez said that despite some parts of the campus having power, BC’s president, Dr. Sandra Serrano, felt it would not be a good idea to bring students back until the entire campus was restored to normal.
“It was the president, Sandra Serrano, and the deans,” said Gutierrez. “There was a meeting at the Van Dyke Bird Library (Tuesday) to determine what course of action we should take and contingency plans. At that time, we didn’t know if power was going to come back on.”
The school ordered backup generators spread throughout the campus – to keep essential equipment on and to keep food in the cafeteria and the food services wing of the FACE building from spoiling.
“We have a team of electrical folk trying to isolate the problem,” Gutierrez said Wednesday. “Some buildings do have power, some are still dark.”
The non-load line was discovered outside the Bishop gym sometime Wednesday morning. Gutierrez said that he expected the dead line would be repaired Wednesday night and ready for classes to start up again today.
Cynthia Pollard, PG&E spokeswoman, said that several repair workers were called out, and once it was determined that the problem was with the school’s power systems, the situation was turned over to the school’s maintenance department and BC’s electric contractor, A-C Electric.
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Word of the outage and the cancellation of classes was slow to travel. Some students found out through word of mouth, others heard through local media outlets. Some students were unlucky enough to find out as they tried to park on campus.
A recorded message was put up on the school’s main telephone line and a message was posted to the school’s Web site.
The cancellation did not affect classes held at BC’s Delano campus or the Weill Institute in downtown Bakersfield.
Students were excited that school was out for the day. Most are still adjusting from long winter vacations, as well as the Monday closing of school in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
“I think it’s great,” said Jamie Abraham, 20. “My friend called me at 11 p.m. and we threw a party. That and we got to sleep in.”
Most students spent the day catching up on sleep. Spencer Karnes, 20, decided that the time would be best spent snowboarding.
“My (snowboard) stuff was already in the car from when I went up to snowboard on Sunday,” Karnes said. “I doubt there will be anyone up there. I love when school gets canceled.”
– Online Editor Jarrod M. Graham contributed to this report