APS Gets Temporary Power To Last Building After Downtown Phoenix Fire

Published: Friday, July 5, 2019 - 10:35am
Updated: Friday, July 5, 2019 - 10:51am
Justin Stabley/KJZZ
Part of downtown Phoenix was closed on July 1, 2019, after a fatal fire at an underground APS power vault.

On Friday, Arizona Public Service (APS) said the last building affected by a deadly electrical fire now has temporary power.

Two generators are providing power to the Wells Fargo office tower at First Avenue and Washington Street. APS said the generators will allow the building to operate while permanent repairs are being made to damaged equipment. Three other buildings previously had power restored.

Last Sunday, APS electrician Rick Castillo was killed in a fire in an underground vault. Castillo was performing maintenance work with another employee who was injured.

The electrical fire broke out Sunday just after 10:30 p.m. near Valley Metro’s light rail station at First Avenue and Washington Street and forced three other stations to close for most of Monday. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

In a July 5, 2019, statement, APS said:

“We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support from the community, Phoenix Police and Fire Departments, our partners at the City of Phoenix and local businesses in the area. We thank our customers in the downtown corridor for their patience as crews worked around-the-clock to restore power safely.”

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