Friday, November 2, 2012

Mayor Jackson Holds First Energy Accountable for Hundreds of Potentially Hazardous Down Wires.


NEW ADVISORY - City of Cleveland --

Families encouraged to attend City sponsored Big City Boo held at city recreation centers from 6-8 p.m (Children 12 and under). this Saturday, November 3 and to NOT have children trick-or-treating on City streets this Saturday.  The Big City Boo and Trick-or-Treating was postponed from Wednesday to this Saturday, both from 6:00 to 8:00 pm

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CLEVELAND - Late last night, the City of Cleveland received information from First Energy regarding potentially hundreds of locations with wires down that could pose a safety risk. The Mayor immediately called a series of conference calls and required First Energy to establish a plan to assess the reported locations and mitigate the risks as quickly as possible. First Energy has been providing hourly updates regarding their progress and have committed to having their review completed by nightfall today.

Due to this information and in light of yesterday’s tragic event with a 12-year-old child being hurt after touching a downed power line, the City of Cleveland is encouraging families with children twelve and under to attend its annual Big City Boo celebrations held at city recreation centers from 6-8 p.m. this Saturday, November 3.

The City of Cleveland is also asking that families refrain from trick or treating in the interest of safety.

“This decision comes out of an abundance of caution to help keep our residents and children safe from harm as we work to resolve the fallout from Hurricane Sandy,” said Mayor Jackson. “We will continue to work to identify and mitigate risks from power lines and restore power to our residents.”

Cleveland Public Power is also required to regularly report its progress regarding downed wires and power restoration to Mayor Jackson. The process of identifying potentially hazardous downed wires is ongoing and the number of reported wires down is constantly changing as we assess each location and we receive new calls.