What you need to do to prepare for Fort Bliss’s planned power outage
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Fort Bliss residents are urged to prepare ahead of next month's "Black Start" exercise, which will shut off the base's electricity in order to test emergency and power systems.
Fort Bliss will conduct the exercise at some point between March 10 and 16, but will not reveal the exact date or time before its start.
Fort Bliss' Facebook page posted these food safety tips to help residents prepare for the planned outage:
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut.
- Freeze refrigerated items (milk, fresh meat/poultry) that you do not need immediately.
- Start bagging ice in the freezer ahead of time. It can be used in the fridge to extend the life of food.
- Freeze containers of water for ice to store in your fridge and freezer during the outage.
- Group food together in the freezer.
- Keep appliance thermometers in your fridge and freezer. The freezer temperature should be at or below 0⁰ F; the fridge should be at or below 40⁰ F.
