DEERFIELD TWP. — A power outage blacked out much of Warren County and a small corner of Butler County Tuesday morning, knocking out phone service and turning some intersections into traffic free-for-alls.

        Cinergy spokesman Dave Woodburn said an insulator on a high-voltage transmission line failed near Cincinnati-Dayton Road, causing the outage at 8:07 a.m.

        The blackout affected about 17,000 customers, leaving many residents, businesses, schools and city- and county-owned buildings in the dark.

        The affected area covered parts of Carlisle, Mason, Deerfield Township, Hamilton Township, Franklin Township, Union Township and Turtlecreek Township in Warren County.

        “There was some discussion about whether or not to keep the kids because without power we could not serve lunch, not to mention it's difficult to work in a dark classroom,” Mason City Schools spokeswoman Shelly Benesh said. “But the power came back within an hour or so and everything was fine.”

        Mr. Woodburn said power was restored by 10 a.m. for all but 300 customers, most of whom lived closest to the source of the outage on Cincinnati-Dayton Road. Those customers were brought back online by noon.

        No injuries were reported, but the outage managed to generate a few headaches for morning commuters. Mason officials reported huge traffic backups along Ohio 741, U.S. 42 and Kings Mills Road after traffic lights lost power.

        The power outage also affected phone service in southeastern Butler County where more than 1,600 residents and businesses were without working phones — including emergency 911 service.

        For more than two hours phones were dead in southeastern Liberty Township, leaving local government at a standstill and some residents nervous.

        “It scared me,” said Susan Lally of Wilhelmina Drive in the Brittany Hills area, who was home with her young daughter.

        “I need to have 911 service because I might need a doctor or immediate help for my child,” said Ms. Lally.

        Liberty Township Administrator Nell Kilpatrick said township offices and the But ler County Sheriff's substation for the community were crippled by the phone outage.

        “But our main concern was the lack of accessibility residents had to emergency services,” said Ms. Kilpatrick.

        No emergency incidents were reported during the two-hour phone outage.

        Cincinnati Bell Telephone spokeswoman Tressie Long said phones were reactivated in the Liberty Township area by using back-up generators to power phone lines.

Voter registration at record peak
Anglican primate to visit Cincinnati
Another teen dies on Tristate road
'How's my driving?' stickers for teens
Time to study hard, but life gets in the way
Band answers school's wish
Deal frees OTR property for fix-up
Fire damage could hit $1M
Golden Lamb says street work could force it to close
Killer's hospital status debated
Ads play in swing states
Anti-tax group targets CPS levy
CROWLEY: Stumping the public access way
Piper calls ads dirty politics
Westwood says ad by Henson is false
Too many pets invokes penalty
Blackout hits Warren, Butler
Cops take to bikes in Fairfield Twp.
Covington mosaic goes on display
Detente night offered candidates
Ex-reporter could testify in '63 slaying
Medicaid reinstated for 150,000 Ohioans
More expected to seek heating aid
Princeton teachers' union ratifies contract
Thieves target Springboro schools
Widow describes hearing shots
Regional air traffic snarled by blackout
Kentucky digest
Lieutenant governor's son arrested
Local digest
Ohio State Patrol fires assistant area commander
Patton: Don't attack coal industry over spill
Roadblocks hinder media in area of sludge spill
Son charged with killing mother