By Ana Ruiz Brictson | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) went back to in-person instruction on Thursday after a power outage caused by a transformer explosion.
On Tuesday, LHSON, which is located in Dallas, had to go fully online for the first two days of the spring semester after a transformer exploded that morning and resulted in the entire building running out of power.
“It was weird,” Fayetteville junior Cece Mitchell said. “It was kind of like a slow start to the semester. Even though there’s a lot packed into this week, it’s just kind of all online. Everything was easily transitioned to online, which was nice. I think we’ve learned how to deal with [online learning] from COVID, especially the professors.”
Mitchell also said she thinks it was more challenging for faculty than for students, given it was only a small inconvenience for her in comparison to others who had to make bigger changes in their schedules.
According to Baylor spokesperson Lori Fogleman, Oncor Electric Delivery was notified and a professional team from CBRE Electrical arrived to address the situation.
“On Wednesday, crews continued their work around the clock to restore the building to an operational state,” Fogleman said. “Oncor removed the damaged transformer and set a new one. Cummings Electrical removed and replaced the new conductors. On Wednesday night, a portable generator was set in place and electrical connections to the building were completed.”
According to Fogleman, by 4 a.m. on Thursday, normal power was brought back to the academic buildings, and all building systems were verified as operational. All classes resumed normally by noon of that day.
“I extend my most sincere thanks to the LHSON faculty, staff and students for their flexibility and understanding throughout the last few days and to those who worked 24/7 to restore the nursing school Academic Building back to normal,” dean and clinical associate professor Dr. Linda Plank said in an email.
