The Wilmington International Airport's main terminal building is still without air conditioning Wednesday, after a truck struck a transformer Tuesday, resulting in a small fire and brief power outage.

As a result, generators are powering main terminal building operations for the time being, said Gary Broughton, deputy director of the Wilmington International Airport (ILM).

The main terminal, however, was still without air conditioning, and the elevators there are out of service, Broughton said.

The gate area, where travelers board their flights, does have air conditioning and working elevators, he said. One jet bridge not yet hooked up to generator power is down; all others are working. Baggage claim devices are also functioning.

A delivery truck was taking a turn and struck the airport’s transformer Tuesday, causing a small fire and knocking out power to the main building, Broughton said. Generators kicked in, and staff members responded.
 
“Response was quick. We appreciate everything that was done. Duke Power got out here very quickly to help us out and Monteith Construction, who is on-site anyway doing our [terminal] construction, is completing the work. As always, our staff, our firefighters … everybody jumped into action very quickly,” Broughton said.

The power issues at the terminal building are not impacting flights or airline schedules, he said.

“It’s just a matter now of getting all the equipment and parts we need delivered, as these are not off-the-shelf parts and must be supplied through the manufacturer due to the size of this transformer,” Broughton said. “We hope to have everything up and running by the end of the week.”