Graham transformer lights up in unexpected fire

By Ricky Mempin

A fire within Graham Hall 100 ceased power in all four Graham buildings on Nov. 13.

The fire was contained to the buildings power transformer. No one was injured and aside from the damaged transformer, minimal damage was done to the Graham basement.

Power was lost for three and a half hours that day, and the accident resulted in more power outages, repairs and some complications for Graham residents. It is unclear what exactly caused the fire.

"We think that the middle coil developed a heat build-up perhaps due to some weak windings that may have been that way since the transformer was built," said Housing Facilities Director Mako Ushihara.

The transformer is used to lower high voltage to an acceptable level in order for objects like wall outlets to function. When the transformer fails, power is set to be automatically restored by the emergency generator, located between Graham 100 and the Library ARS.

Both Campus Safety and the Santa Clara Fire Department were alerted and arrived to put the fire out.

In order for them to enter the basement safely, the generator had to first be shut down and all of Graham remained without power from either the ruined transformer or the emergency generator from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Ushihara and facilities inspected all of Graham, telling people in each dorm room of the situation.

"He (Mr. Ushihara) was there the whole time providing emergency flashlights and things," said Jeffrey Charles, director of facilities.

The power was eventually returned by disconnecting the damaged transformer and turning the generator back on.

Unlike other emergency generators, Graham's restores complete power and not just emergency backup lighting.

However, the generator unexpectedly shut itself off at 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 18.

"It sensed a low oil pressure, like a huge car engine. It shut itself down to protect itself," said Ushihara.

Quickly, additional oil was found, and the generator's engine started up again.

In order to prevent this from happening in the future, the Housing Office decided to shut it down periodically every other day to reapply oil and coolant to the tank as necessary.

This happened a total of seven times, the final shut off on Dec. 4. Various actions were taken to minimize the effects they would have on the residents--they only occurred from either 4 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. or 5 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. All Graham residents were warned by e-mail in advance.

While most Graham residents remained unaffected by the generator and its power outages, for a few unlucky students it caused problems.

Freshman Lauren Johnson's alarm turned off at 4 a.m., causing her to sleep in and arrive over an hour late for her job at Kids on Campus.

"I had to be there at 9 a.m., but I woke up at 10:10 and I ran out of my dorm," she said.

A similar event happened to freshman Jackie Santayana. "My alarm shut off and my clock said it was 2:30 a.m., but I looked at my phone and it was 8:30 am, and I had to rush to class. Luckily I woke up early," she said.

Additionally, the Access card readers were shut off and the generator would make a distinct noise, while releasing a smell of exhaust.

A new transformer, installed on Dec. 4, ended all previous problems.

The switchgear for the generator sensed the installation of the new transformer and returned commercial power.

Regardless, the problems experienced earlier will likely not happen again.

Neither the fire nor the power outages were due to the result of poor maintenance or faulty instruments.

"The failure of the transformer was definitely unexpected," said Ushihara. "Preventative inspection had been done. This one passed its inspection with flying colors, so it was really more of a fluke."

Contact Ricky Mempin at RMempin@scu.edu.