A construction worker lost control of his jackhammer Friday and struck a high-voltage line, shutting off power in the heart of Mt. Lebanon’s business district just before the start of a summer street festival. Thomas Reed Jr., 34, of Oakmont, a laborer for Niando Construction of Penn Hills, was taken to St. Clair Hospital by co-workers, then transferred to West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield, where he was listed in stable condition, police said. Reed was replacing sidewalk and a curb in front of Molly Brannigans Irish Pub and Restaurant, 660 Washington Road, when the jackhammer he was operating slipped and struck the power line, according to Duquesne Light spokesman Joe Balaban. Balaban said the construction company had properly notified Duquesne Light of its intention to dig. “We heard that the bit just slipped and he hit the 23,000-volt line,” Balaban said. A line of that voltage would serve roughly 500 to 700 customers, he said. The typical home is powered by just 120 volts. Co-worker Dominic Catalano said Reed was conscious after the accident and initially did not want to go to the hospital. Eventually, he agreed to go. “He walked into the hospital,” Catalano said. The power interruption, which occurred at 8:23 a.m., initially caused portions of the 600 block of Washington Road, Cochran Road and side streets to lose electric service. Service was restored to all but 15 customers — mostly businesses along Washington Road — within an hour. Electricity was shut off to protect workers replacing the damaged lines, said Duquesne Light’s underground department head, Dan Miller. For some, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The inaugural First Friday celebration, a street festival featuring live music, was to begin at 6 p.m. Melanie Westerfield, owner of Aldo Coffee, 675 Washington Road, had stocked up on food in anticipation of the evening’s crowd and was anxiously waiting for power to be restored. “I’ve been closed since 8:30,” Westerfield said. “There were a lot of disappointed customers, a lot of angry customers.This is one of our biggest days of the year. This could cost me thousands of dollars.” A power surge from the accident helped trigger a chain reaction of problems at Mt. Lebanon High School that left the C Building, which houses three cafeterias, science labs and other classrooms, without power and forced the school to close for the day. The surge hit as workers were trying to troubleshoot a malfunction with a 30 horsepower motor for an air conditioning system. The surge scrambled the school’s electrical system, said Gerald Ingram, director of facilities for the Mt. Lebanon School District. When workers tried to send power to the motor, it jumped a circuit breaker and blew out the building’s electrical system, he said. “It was a weird timing thing,” Ingram said. Students were sent home at 11 a.m., according to district spokeswoman Cissy Bowman, because the air conditioner was not operating and the cafeterias could not prepare lunch. Norm Caldwell, 17, said he was in his third-period class when the power went out. At the end of the period, he was sent back to his homeroom. “They told us that we could all go home, as long as you had your parent’s permission,” he said. Repairs were completed by 6 p.m. School officials said campus activities planned for today would not be affected.

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