When plan B fails, you go to plan C, and that’s what the Forest Park Police Department did Sunday night. Around 11 p.m., Sunday night, Commonwealth Edison customers in a small area along the 500 block of Desplaines Avenue and along Adams Street lost electrical power, including village hall. That failure triggered a back-up generator located on the police station roof to kick in. However, that generator soon burned out.
“The generator kicked in shortly after [the black out], then that went out,” said Deputy Chief Tom Aftanas Monday. The fire department went to the roof to inspect the generator, and discovered it had failed.
With no power to the police station, officials called in help from other departments.
“We moved communications [dispatch] to West Comm [West Suburban Consolidated Dispatch, in River Forest],” said Aftanas. Two prisoners being held in the station lockup awaiting Monday bond court were also transferred to the River Forest station.
Power was restored by 3 a.m., Monday.
Village officials were meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the incident in detail and assess what happened.
-Bill Dwyer
