Scheduled power outage for Chavez residents Published Sept. 23, 2015 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Base housing residents will experience a scheduled power outage on Saturday, Sept. 26 that will cause the Chavez housing area and the surrounding buildings to temporarily lose all power from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to Lt. Col. Joel Sloan, 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron commander, this outage is required to support critical maintenance on key electrical infrastructure that will help prevent unscheduled outages in the coming months. Power is scheduled to be restored in timed phases based on completion of the scheduled maintenance. While the outage will not affect all houses for the same amount of time, an exact time cannot be given for power restoration due to uncertainty of which houses will be affected during various timeframes. Housing residents are reminded to keep freezers and refrigerators closed during this time to prevent defrosting of frozen items, and to keep curtains and shades drawn to maintain residual cooling within housing units. Cannon’s civil engineers have included some recommendations to help housing residents keep their perishables cold for the duration of the outage: Before Power Outage - Keep several blue-ice freezable packages in your freezer. You can also fill containers, such as milk cartons, with water and freeze them. If the electricity goes out, you will have blocks of ice in the freezer to help maintain cold temperatures. - Turn the thermostat on your freezer and refrigerator to the coldest setting. Be sure to return settings to normal when the electricity is restored. - Keep appliance thermometers in the refrigerator and freezer at all times. When the power is out, an appliance thermometer will always indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer no matter how long the power has been out. The refrigerator temperature should remain 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below; the freezer, zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower. If you are not sure whether a particular food is cold enough, take its temperature with a digital, dial or instant-read food thermometer. During Power Outage - While the electricity is off, avoid opening the refrigerator and freezer doors unless absolutely necessary. - A fully stocked freezer will usually keep food frozen for two days after losing power. A half-full freezer will usually keep food frozen for about one day. If the freezer is not full, quickly group packages together so they will retain the cold more effectively. - Separate raw meat and poultry items from other foods. If raw meat and poultry begin to thaw, this will prevent their juices from getting onto other foods. - In the refrigerator, highly perishable food will usually be stay safely cold for about four hours, depending on the kitchen temperature. If the power remains out longer, place dry or block ice in the refrigerator to keep it as cold as possible. Please call 575-784-2001 if you have any questions.