Gary Heisey, owner of Heisey’s Diner and Inn 72, at 1740 State Route 72 N, said the power went out at 2:15 p.m. and had been out for over an hour when LebTown spoke to him.
He said the restaurant had customers when the power went off.
“We were able to get all of the food out to them and we let them sit here as long as they could,” said Heisey. “We couldn’t ring them out, so we got their names and numbers and plan to follow up with them and settle payment later, I guess.”
Reports to county officials noted power was out from Heisey’s Diner and northward. While homes and businesses along that stretch all appeared to be dark without power to light them, traffic control lights at intersections along that section of Route 72 remained brightly illuminated and in working order.
Heisey, who is a North Lebanon Township supervisor, said there is a reason the traffic control lights were operational.
“When the township redid the two traffic lights when the Walmart (distribution center) went in, they put them on battery back-up,” said Heisey. “So they’ll run for so long on battery and then there is a generator up there that comes out of there and we can put gas in there to run it. It can run an hour on battery backup before we have to go to a generator.”
Heisey said he spoke to First Energy owner Met-Ed and was told two big grids were out, interrupting power from around the Lebanon Valley Mall to as far north as Jonestown and Fredericksburg.
“Met-Ed still doesn’t know what is wrong,” said Heisey when interviewed around 3:30 p.m. “We’re going to be here until 5 o’clock and then we’ll shut down. What are you gonna do?”
After the interview with Heisey, LebTown learned the cause of the outage: A turkey vulture carrying a squirrel caused a power outage for 4,700 First Energy customers in North Lebanon after damaging a circuit breaker at the utility company’s substation.
Read More: Thousands without power after turkey vulture apparently lands on breaker
Heisey said a power outage has a ripple effect on his business and his employees. He loses several hundred dollars an hour for every hour his restaurant is dark, and then there are his employees, many whose wages are supplemented by tips.
Heisey’s Diner and Inn 72 are just a couple of the businesses who have been impacted by the power outages over the last few weeks.
Read More: 2nd Friday outage in a row for city residents, mechanics on the way
At Inn 72, one regular sat talking to the bartender, sipping on a cold beverage in partial darkness that was illuminated by some lit candles. He said power at his home was off last Friday from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. during the second of three recent power outages in that area of Lebanon County.
Heisey said the convenience store/gas station adjacent to his business had closed and that one potential customer was beyond angry that he was unable to pump gas for his older model Jeep.
“A guy came in not more than five minutes ago and he starts screaming, ‘Turn the pumps on, I need gas!’ I thought, ‘Dude, they can’t turn the pumps on, they don’t have power. I don’t know what you want them to do,” said Heisey. “He was screaming and hollering and did a burnout out of the lot heading up 72 and he’s going to get to Jonestown and they don’t have power, too.”
Further up Route 72, power appeared to be out along the highway since no buildings were giving off light, including businesses along that route. However, at Frog’s Hollow Tavern, the marquee was flashing specials and the lights were on at the business.
When LebTown arrived to enquire if power was off, the bar was open for business with the cook and bartender chatting with one another. The power, according to cook David Santos, had never gone off during the three incidents to have occurred over the past two weeks.
“The manager called and said the power is out in the Jonestown area and was wondering if it was out here too,” said Santos.
While the bar was empty around 4 p.m., a number of customers had trickled in for adult beverages and food, including customers at the bar, a mother and her two children, and a trio of ladies. None of the customers at the bar were there due to the power being out.
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