Tanger reopens two days after power surge
Holiday shopping is back on at Tanger Outlets after a power surge shut down the South Strabane retail destination for two days this week.
While some suites were still closed Wednesday afternoon, most stores were operating. Prior to opening, most of the businesses had notices from the South Strabane Township Fire Department affixed to the doors.
According to the fire department, crews were called to Tanger Monday morning and found a power surge was occurring. The surge caused electrical damage to five suites. The outlets were forced to close Monday and Tuesday while electricians worked to resolve the issue.
Tanger Outlets management did not respond to an emailed request for comment. When a reporter visited the mall’s management office, no one answered the door.
South Strabane fire Chief Jordan Cramer said Wednesday that it was still not clear what specifically caused the power surge.
“They believe some type of a switch went bad,” Cramer said. “The plaza is currently being powered by several, extremely large generators. They will remain there until they get the power issue figured out,” Cramer said.
According to Cramer, part of the process involves reenergizing each suite individually for inspection.
“When power is reset, there is potential that whatever equipment has gone bad would start some kind of fire,” Cramer said.
The department’s fire inspectors will do a walkthrough at each suite as power is restored.
“We have discovered several issues when reenergizing. We note that and present that information to the electrician,” Cramer said.
Tanger Outlets addressed the outage in a post to its Facebook page, sharing that they would reopen Wednesday morning.
“Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding during the past two days during the unexpected power outage,” the post reads. “We realize it’s a busy time of year and we apologize for the inconvenience!”