AUBURN – Several areas of the city were clogged with traffic Thursday as a result of a power outage early in the afternoon and a string of car crashes later in the day.

About 12:30 p.m., the lights went out at 6,600 homes and businesses as the result of an equipment failure at the Great Falls substation, according to a Central Maine Power Co. spokesman.

At the same time, traffic lights blinked out at some of the city’s busiest intersections. The failure of the traffic signals tapped police manpower as officers went from accidents to traffic control during the noon commute.

“There were many intersections where the traffic lights weren’t working and we had to get our officers out there,” said police Lt. Paul LaBarre. “That was on top of everything else going on in the city.”

The power outage lasted roughly a half-hour. Police at Court and Turner streets as well as other heavily traveled areas struggled to keep traffic moving until red, green and yellow lights were back in operation.

Less than two hours later, a two-vehicle wreck on Route 4 near the boat launch, forced police to reroute traffic as emergency vehicles responded.

Just as that one was being cleared up, another wreck in the same area caused similar snarls.

The second crash caused traffic jams all along Center Street, particularly in the area around the Auburn Mall. Again, police officers were sent out to steer motorists around the problem areas.

Those crashes, and several others in Auburn throughout the day, were being investigated later Thursday. Police said the crashes were messy, but no life-threatening injuries resulted.

The CMP spokesman said the afternoon power outage affected Auburn and parts of Durham. No significant problems were reported in that town as a result of the blackout.