Roads Remain Closed, Power Out in Some Areas

The strong thunderstorms and heat caused major problems for the state's electrical company and firefighters who had to restrict access to some roads because of wires down or transformer fires.

Friday night, CL&P's outage report showed that 377 of its estimated 6,000 customers in Tolland were without power.

Friday afternoon, Tolland Fire personnel had restricted access to Anthony Road and Merrow Road (Route 195) because of a tree down across the roadway and also to Baxter Street at Merrow Road because a transformer fire jeopardized two poles and wires.

Yet, despite the cones, sawhorses and caution tape, some people continued to drive around the barricades.

In an e-mail Friday evening, Fire Department Public Information Officer Seale Tuttle reminded residents that the barriers are there to limit access to those roads because of the potential danger.

"Residents are reminded that they should always avoid any wires on the ground or dangling from poles," Tuttle wrote. "When a road is barricaded it is because there is the potential for serious injury, and residents should not ignore or move barricades. Roads which are improperly opened to traffic may result in a tragedy," he wrote.

Tuttle also said that CL&P crews might be delayed in responding to the areas because of the number of outages throughout the state.