Firefighters from Western Salisbury and Eastern Salisbury fire departments were kept busy responding to multiple calls after a widespread power outage disrupted medical offices on the Lehigh Valley Health Network - Cedar Crest campus, and at the Cedar Crest Professional Park mid-morning Dec. 6.

The power outage set off false alarms throughout the hospital and office park, stranded passengers in elevators and had the firefighters and Lehigh Valley Health Network security and building personnel scrambling to make sure everyone could safely evacuate the buildings, which were illuminated by emergency power and battery back-up lighting.

According to Salisbury Police, the outage stemmed from a problem at a PPL power substation.

The outage also affected parts of Lower Macungie Township, as well as the Salisbury Township Cedar Crest Boulevard corridor. Police said the outage could have caused a lot more problems if traffic signals along the Cedar Crest roadway were not operating on a separate power circuit.

The outage occurred during peak hours for medical office visits, causing problems for those in medical offices who could not navigate between floors until power was restored to the elevators.

Additionally, a motor vehicle accident in a hospital parking deck, a hydraulic fluid spill on several roadways in South Whitehall Township and Salisbury Township neighborhoods, and a report of smoke in the township's police headquarters kept the firefighters scrambling to keep up with trouble spots. At one time there were three simultaneous calls in the fire district.

Western Salisbury Fire Chief Joshua Wells said he was grateful Eastern Salisbury Fire Department personnel were available to back up the Western Salisbury crews. "Thankfully, these were comparatively minor incidents, and we were able to respond effectively," Wells said. "Automatic alarms and power outages usually don't involve personal injury or property loss, so we are grateful for that," he said.