Q: Where were you when the lights went out?

Q: Where were you when the lights went out?

A: In the dark!

news@theeveningtimes.com Memorial Day is first and foremost a time to remember and honor our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

But Memorial Day 2016 will go down with a different set of memories for many Marionites. An early afternoon power outage lasted well into the evening, forcing families to become flexible with their holiday at home. An Entergy power outage impacted over 3,000 customers. Power went out around 2:30 p.m. and after some brief onagain, off-again sessions to get folks hopes up, the lights were fully and finally restored around 9:30 p.m. The Marion Fire Department responded to a grass fire call near the substation on Highway 64 west of Airport Road near Crittenden Memorial Park.

“When we got there, we noticed three breakers tripped which must have sparked causing the fire,” said Marion Fire Chief Woody Wheeless.

A critter apparently got into the works and blew the big breakers.

Families were grateful to get the cold air moving inside their homes by bedtime, and the chief expressed gratitude.

“Thanks to the utility workers who have left their families this holiday weekend to get the power restored for those who lost their power,” said Wheeless.

Entergy released a statement noting there would be work done Tuesday to completely rectify the problems, saying, “We will complete the work needed to return our system to normal configuration by the close of business Tuesday, We work hard to prevent outages, but our system is exposed tot he elements and it is impossible to maintain 100 percent reliability.”

By John Rech