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Power mostly restored after storm; water break forces Kingsford classes to cancel

By Daily News staff 2 min read
A DOWNED POWER LINE actually set a tree on fire Wednesday on Six Mile Lake Road in northern Dickinson County. Residents in that area were without power from early Wednesday afternoon until almost noon Thursday. (Paul Johnson photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN -- Crews continued to work Thursday to restore power to tens of thousands of customers in the central Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin who lost service Wednesday due to a damaging snow and ice storm.

By 8:15 p.m. Thursday, about 75 We Energies customers remained without power in Dickinson County and 270 in Florence County, Wis.

Service was restored to all but a handful of customers in Kingsford, where thousands lost power Wednesday. Classes were canceled Thursday and today by Breitung Township Schools, due to a water main break at the middle school/high school in Kingsford, the district said on its Facebook page.

Because necessary repairs couldn't be complete before the start of classes today, school will remain out of session through spring vacation, with students expected to return Tuesday, April 5. The Woodland Child Care Center will be on its normal schedule.

In Norway, Thirsty Whale Bar & Grill reported on its Facebook page that an electrical fire was contained Wednesday to the upstairs. With water damage on the main level, the bar will be closed at least through this week for cleanup.

Norway Fire Department and North Alert Ambulance responded and there were no injuries.

Wisconsin Public Service said power had been restored by Thursday afternoon to more than 80,000 customers. Outages continued to affect communities across northcentral Wisconsin, with the Three Lakes, Lac du Flambeau, Minocqua, St. Germain and Wausaukee areas among those most affected.

WPS expected to restore service to 90% of customers affected by the storm by the end of Thursday.

Extensive damage has made the repair effort especially difficult and dangerous for crews, said Matt Cullen, WPS senior communications specialist.

"Tree limbs continue to fall on WPS' equipment, creating new outages as crews restore power," Cullen said Thursday. "Crews are working to repair more than 600 cases of downed power lines or tree limbs that have fallen onto equipment."

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