All utility customers in the Wildwoods will have power back Sunday morning, utility says

After one of the more-surreal experiences in the colorful history of the Wildwoods, all customers were expected by have their power back Sunday morning, following that substation fire at the onset of a sultry, peak summer weekend that resulted in an island-wide outage.

As of 11:30 p.m. about 6,500 of the Atlantic Electric customers — which include the island’s copious supply of motels and multi-dwelling units in Wildwood, North Wildwood, and Wildwood Crest— still remained unplugged, according to the utility.

That was down from the original 24,000, but an increase of about 1,500 from the company’s 10:20 p.m. update .

Atlantic Electric said it expected full restoration by 6 a.m. Sunday. It originally had expected to happen at 3 p.m. Saturday, then p.m., then 11:59 p.m.

The outages were the result of a fire that broke out at an electric substation at Oak and Susquehanna Avenues in the heart of town on Friday just after noon. Fortunately, none of the town’s amusement rides was in operation.

» READ MORE: The island-wide power outage hit before noon Friday

No injuries were reported, and the cause remained under investigation. Efforts to restore power continued through the night and into Saturday.

A weary worker at the Wawa on Rio Grande Avenue answered the phone Saturday morning with, “Yes, we’re open. Yes, we have ice. Yes, we have fuel.”

With its amusement piers, arcades, mini-golf courses, frozen custard stands, and assorted business, the Wildwood boardwalk traditionally has been the liveliest at the Jersey Shore, save for Atlantic City’s.

But on Friday night, it became something quite extraordinarily different.

» READ MORE: Wildwood has banned drinking on the boardwalk and beach

In the darkness, Jimmy DiIulio, 17, was walking along the boardwalk with friends, hoping it would feel like a “glow-in-the-dark party.” Instead, he said, the bright emergency lights and shuttered businesses all felt scary.

Tom Konidaris, grill manager at the Ace’s Grill Dollar Hut, said he had never witnessed a power outage like this in Wildwood.

At 10 p.m. Friday, the Hut was a place to be: It managed to remain open thanks to a generator. People walked by asking for water bottles, water ice — really, anything to stay cool. “All these people walking the boards are hungry and thirsty, so we just figured we’d help out how we can,” he said.

By the hundreds of thousands, generations of Philadelphia-area residents — and French Canadians — have drawn attracted to the Wildwoods by that boardwalk, with its unabashed gaudiness and rentals less pricey than those of its seaside neighbors, such as Avalon and Cape May.

Rates in the dozens of motels in the Wildwoods — many of them with exotic, evocative names a la Las Vegas — also tend to be lower than elsewhere at the Shore.

Kenneth Marshall of Mount Airy came to the Island Breeze Motel in North Wildwood with his family and arrived in time to find the island powerless.

» READ MORE: A bird's eye view of Wildwood at season's end

Still, they were determined to enjoy their sojourn. They’d spent most of the day on the beach, and ordered pizza from a boardwalk shop that fortuitously had a gas-fired oven.

Marshall had even managed to find an open beer store. “They didn’t have power, but the beer is still cold,” he said.

A bit later, motel owner Mark Jones supplied some children with light. He popped across the street and presented glow sticks to the kids who staying at a place across the street.

Inquirer staff writers Lynette Hazelton, Max Marin, and Robert Moran contributed to this article.

This story will be updated.