East Valley Power Outage - AESA

June 30 th , 2011
Cori Darnell
Deputy Chief Mesa Fire Department
City of Mesa Emergency Manager

11:45 Crews respond to large transformer fire at SRP Substation
at University and Sossaman.
1:10 IC reports fire Under Control, however lines are still
charged above sub-station. SRP advising they are
preparing to de-energize sub-station. No power
outages to report.
2:12 Power outages begin to be reported across Mesa
and Apache Junction.
2:20 Mesa PD goes to Phase 1 dispatch protocols for
excessive calls.
2:30 Citywide notification of partial activation of EOC.
Power out at approx. 30 intersections in the city.

3:26 SRP reports that power should be fully restored
between 4:00-4:30pm.
3:35 Falcon Field advising no emergency power and
closing the field.
3:51 Brown Road Water Treatment Plant on back-up
power and were able to restore operations including
the high-service pumps that supply water to the Las
Sendas area water reservoir.
4:01 In cooperation with the Red Cross a contingent plan
was made for cooling stations as needed.
4:10 BBM, BDM and MVH all reporting they are
operating on back-up power.

4:13 Three sewer lift stations have lost power. Two
are operating on back-up power and one is out of
service. City crews are standing by with vacuum
vehicle to prevent overflow.
4:28 Power still not restored. SRP advising outage is now
indefinite.
4:52 Boundaries established for outage: McDonald Rd. to
Guadalupe, Goldfield Rd. to Price Rd./Loop 101
Approx. 100,000+ homes without power.
4:56 Valley-Metro advises buses ready if needed.
5:17 Emergency Shelter established at Mesa Convention
Center.

5:29 MPS advises 16 buses available if needed.
5:59 MPD holds over Day shift to support Swing and
Grave officers were contacted to report to duty by
8:00pm.
6:03 All Mesa hospitals, except MVH, report operating
on SRP power. MVH still on back up power and no
functioning AC’s. BC was dispatched to MVH to
monitor needs.
7:00 Power beginning to be restored to areas of city from
west to east. SRP warns of possible rolling brown
outs as they continue.

7:01 Power problems at city reservoir (County Line
Reservoir #5) supplying the Las Sendas area
becomes a concern. Estimated that there is 4 to 6
hours of water remaining in reservoir. Plans are
being made to deploy a generator to the affected
pump to restore power.
7:21 Generator was successfully deployed to reservoir
#5 and pumping into the reservoir resumed.
7:31 CENS was activated to begin notifications to
citizens in impacted area of sheltering facility.
7:40 Most power restored to areas west of Higley Rd.
SRP advises all power expected to be restored
between 10:00 and 11:00 pm. Area nearest the fire
may have an extended outage.

7:44 Fry’s store at Ellsworth and Broadway reported
crowds in excess of 200 people waiting for
bagged ice. Store requesting police response for
crowd control. MCSO handled.
8:50 SRP reporting power restored to majority of the
cities of Mesa and Apache Junction.
10:00 EOC reduced to skeleton crew.
10:00 Evacuation site at Mesa Convention Center
closed.

• Newly remodeled EOC
• Updated Technology
• WebEOC
• County EOC support
• Various City department in EOC

• Incomplete/Inaccurate Communications
• Full Activation of EOC never relayed and personnel
were confused as to who should respond.
• Conflicting information coming into the EOC on
nature and duration of the power outage.
• Information not being vetted through EOC
Command before being relayed to City Manager.
• Multiple city offices fielding phone calls from
concerned citizens that didn’t have necessary
information to provide assistance.
• Needed to request SRP representative to respond to
Mesa EOC.

• Back-up Generator Power in Critical Facilities
• Some back-up generators did not function at City
facilities.
• Other facilities had back-up power that did not
supply critical needs.
• Several facilities had issues with air handlers not
functioning properly even after power was restored.
• Power disrupted at high-service pumps that supply
Las Sendas
• No city wide database tracking equipment and
resources available with in the city.

• Community Emergency Notification System
• 78,000 homes were in the notification area.
• Approximately 5 hours to complete the notifications.
• Several homes in targeted area did not receive the
notification.
• System had capability of no more than 270 calls per
minute.
• Mass Call platform is being brought on line now.