As single-digit temperatures chilled Downtown Youngstown on Friday, people working in buildings there are spending another day without adequate steam heat.

The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County closed its main branch on Wick Avenue on Friday due to heating issues. Other library branches scheduled openings for 11 a.m.

SOBE President John Rambo told 21 News in a phone interview that an overnight outage due to an equipment issue led to the system restarting at about 6:30 a.m. Friday. Rambo said the system is already recovering, and that temperature increases into the low teens today could accelerate that recovery, but warned that it will be "a while" for buildings to heat back up.

This is the second steam heat outage to hit downtown in as many days. The disruption began Tuesday morning when a water supply line ruptured at the SOBE Thermal plant, disabling the boilers that heat 28 downtown buildings. Although the line was repaired on Wednesday, Youngstown Law Director Adam Buente reported on Friday that City Hall has not received even 10% of the necessary steam pressure since the break.

Temperatures inside City Hall have dropped to 44 degrees on the fourth floor and 38 degrees on the third floor. While critical staff remain on-site, Buente said most city employees are working from home.

Matt Schilling of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio said the agency is still working with the utility to provide safe and reliable service. SOBE currently operates with a 650-horsepower boiler and a 250-horsepower boiler. Company officials have indicated this capacity is insufficient and plan to install a new 800-horsepower boiler unit soon, but Rambo told 21 News on Friday that this new unit has been delayed.

Rambo explained that the driver carrying the 800-horsepower boiler was expected to arrive in Youngstown Friday morning, but got a flat tire near New Stanton, PA, setting him two hours behind. Once it arrives, Rambo said installation "shouldn't take long." 

In his letter, Buente requested immediate coordination from state officials to resolve the outage, noting the danger posed by a forecast of extreme cold for the next week.