Thousands of residents from Pitkin County, Colorado, are without energy after vandals caused an outage in the Aspen natural gas system at three Black Hills Energy stations, reported the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office (PSCO).
Aspen Police Chief Richard Pryor revealed in a community meeting Monday night that a multi-jurisdictional investigation is underway to identify the perpetrators, 9 News reported.
150 technicians are being mobilized and 4,000 heaters are being distributed while services are being repaired, reported 9 News. Residents are being asked to avoid calling 911 and to check in on each other as many are going without heat or hot water.
Officers are urging residents to avoid relighting appliances on their own for safety reasons.
Approximately 100 technicians plan to go door-to-door to relight appliances and safely deliver natural gas to affected residents, 9 News reported. The relight process will continue at 5 a.m. Tuesday per county decree.
Black Hills Energy crews are repairing the impacted area of the Aspen natural gas system. To safely facilitate repairs, beginning at 10 p.m. this evening, techs will go door to door and turn off about 3,500 gas meters to ensure the safety of the community. This is step one in the
— Pitkin Co. Sheriff (@PitkinSheriff) December 28, 2020
Black Hills Energy crews are beginning to purge the impacted area of the Aspen natural gas system. Customers may smell a faint natural gas due to the controlled release – this is normal and expected and is step one in the multistep process. Beginning this evening until 11 pm, s
— Pitkin Co. Sheriff (@PitkinSheriff) December 28, 2020
Residents can pick up heaters in front of the Aspen Police Department on Main Street if necessary, according to 9 News.
Pitkin Emergency Alert for the Aspen area(s): Do not call 9-1-1 for Gas Outage. Open Link https://t.co/lw25q3oNJo for map of outage area. For natural gas outage information call Black Hills Energy at 888-890-5554.
12-27-2020 22:42:53 D1
— Pitkin Co. Sheriff (@PitkinSheriff) December 28, 2020