The demolition of the tower had been planned for months. However, when the smoke stack came down, it fell on numerous power lines and some generating buildings, causing about 4,000 people to lose power.
At this time, the site is safe, according to FirstEnergy. News Center 7 photojournalist Eric Higgenbotham was at the scene when the tower fell and he said, "You can't describe to see it snap. You know you can't get away."
Crews believe a crack in the stack caused it to rotate and fall the wrong way. The demo company's charges and plan worked correctly.
Lisa Kelly from Advance Explosive Demolition said, "No matter who would have shot that stack, it would have gone the same way due to the fracture that was unknown."
RAW VIDEO: Smoke Stack Falls Wrong Way View Images Additional Content From Springfield News Sun Brittny McGraw Reports
Officials said power has been restored to all those who lost power. They said they reroute electricity in order to get the power restored as quickly as possible.
The power outage lasted about three hours and caused numerous businesses and homes to go dark. Power was restored by 2:45 p.m.
FirstEnergy crews are now trying to determine what went wrong when the smoke stack came down.
According to our partners at the Springfield News Sun, at one time it was one of the largest power plants in the country. The 51,000 square-foot-structure was built in 1927 and generated power to customers as far away as Marysville.
Some debris from the demolition such as bricks will be used to fill in the basement of the plant and then later grated over to make the site look as normal as possible, said FirstEnergy Corp. spokesman Mark Durbin.
Operations at the plant ceased in 1981 and it has been idle since then, Durbin said.
A few generating units and a substation will be left on the 45-acre site to produce electricity if needed.
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