Power outage shuts down Trenton summer festival

TRENTON, Mich. – Live wires that provide power to vendors along the Trenton summer festival route snapped and were dangling down at more than five spots Sunday afternoon. In one spot, they fell right on top of a man's concession stand.

Randy Paradise is truly thankful after his close call at the festival.

"A woman at my window was looking up in panic," Paradise said. "She took off running. We could hear everybody outside yelling, 'Get out, get out,' and we come flying out the door."

Power lines from above snapped after a transformer blew. The live wire landed right on Paradise's booth.

"(It was) more scary afterwards once I realized what it was," he said. "I guess it was the big power lines."

"There were multiple wires down in our festival," Parks Director Joanne Gonyea said.

Vendors were forced to pack up early because organizers decided there was just too much of a risk. The three-day festival covers five blocks and brings out an estimated 80,000 people. But on the final day Sunday they shut down a few hours early. They usually keep their eyes looking up but not for power lines.

"We had our eye on the weather, but this was something we couldn't predict," Gonyea said.