ALTUS AFB - A second power outage in a week occurred on Altus Air Force Base Tuesday, according to Michael Fletcher, public affairs spokesman for the base. The outage occurred from about 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday caused by a fallen power line.

Base dwellers were in an electric void for about five hours Saturday morning when lightning took out one of three arrestors, frying a transformer bushing in the process.

Brian Hobbs, general manager, legal and administration, for Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, the company that provides electricity to the base, said AFB crews notified the company at 7:12 a.m. about the outage. A crew stationed near Frederick was on the scene within an hour, Hobbs said, and found the damage greater than was originally reported

The lightning arrestor, Hobbs said, functions basically as a surge protector, and the one that was struck “literally blew up.”

The company replaced all three lightning arrestors on base and repaired the transformer bushing after ordering equipment from its headquarters in Anadarko. An additional crew responded from Comanche and electricity was back on by 12:18 p.m.

The cooperative, which covers about three fourths of Oklahoma west of I-35 and south of I-40, does maintain backup units which are essentially substations on semi rigs, Hobbs said.