A power outage that canceled school Thursday afternoon at Carson High School was caused by a fuse on a power line, according to school administrators.
Not knowing if the power would be out for a short or long duration, CHS decided to release the students early.
The failure caused a brown-out at CHS that resulted in partial power going into the electrical devices requiring three-phase power. This brown-out condition caused HVAC pumps and motors to labor inefficiently causing electrical smells and raising safety concerns.
The fire alarms were engaged and students evacuated for safety purposes. The Carson City Fire Department investigated for hazards and students were then permitted to return to class.
However, NV Energy arrived at CHS soon thereafter to observe and then notified the administration to shut down the building’s power during lunch hour, which prompted another evacuation and disconnection to the school administration’s communication systems.
Wednesday’s storm is assumed to be the reason for the equipment failure but the cause hasn’t yet officially been determined.
Power was restored later in the afternoon and class will resume as usual today.
