Power outage caused headaches for Center City drivers

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A contractor working for PECO was injured in an incident that resulted in a power outage and a massive headache for drivers in Chinatown.

Nikki Caddick thought she had her route to work all planned out. "I'm going that way," she pointed down 7th St at the intersection of Vine. Two seconds later, she realizes the street was closed. "Oh alright. I'll figure it out," she said.

Lots of drivers had to figure out detours on their Wednesday morning commute. That's because a power outage wiped out traffic lights at 7th Street and 8th Street between Vine and the Race. The area is a major artery in Center City and Chinatown.

The power outage happened Tuesday night.

PECO says there was minor damage to some of its underground equipment.

A man was hurt- with burns to his arms, torso, and head. Witnesses say they saw him crawl out of a manhole.

He was rushed to Jefferson Hospital.

A PECO spokesperson says that the man was a contractor doing work for PECO.

220 customers lost power. By mid-morning, that number was down to 130.

As police directed traffic, drivers had to figure out detours.

"Very confusing when you come up and you don't know that this is blocked," said Patrick Stone as he navigated his gold minivan the standstill traffic. "This is messing me up a good bit."

By 10 a.m., police had a generator in place - getting the lights back up and running.