Schools to reschedule finals after power outage in Catawba County

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — Crews restored power to thousands of Duke Energy customers Tuesday in Catawba County after an early morning fire burned down power lines.

The following schools were forced to cancel classes:

• St. Stephens High School
• St. Stephens Elementary School
• Arndt Middle School
• Snow Creek Elementary School
• Clyde Campbell Elementary School
• Webb A. Murray Elementary School

District leaders said the schools will be back open Wednesday.

High school exams scheduled for this week must be rescheduled, the school district said.

Flames from a vacant house fire on Springs Road brought down power lines.

Firefighters told Channel 9 that the fire began at a vacant home around 1:30 a.m.

Channel 9′s Dave Faherty spent hours at the scene as power crews worked to get heat pumping back into homes.

The property owner said he had seen people going in and out of the home before, but no one was supposed to be there.

He said there should not have been power at the residence.

Eric Ibarra, who lives about one mile away, used his car to stay warm as temperatures plunged into the mid-20s overnight.

“Last night it was cold … freezing cold,” Ibarra said. “So we turned on like 10 candles. It was cold. I didn’t realize what was going on until this morning.”

Businesses, including the Propst Store, closed because of the outage.

“I’ve had a lot of people banging on the doors trying to get gas and stuff like that,” manager Bonnie Lunsford said.

Firefighters said they are still working to determine how the fire started.

VIDEO: Elementary school in Lincoln County closed due to power outage

Elementary school in Lincoln County closed due to power outage

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