ELYSBURG -- Thousands of guests had to be evacuated from Knoebels Groves Amusement Resort at 9 p.m. Thursday when a total power outage closed down the park.

"There were people on rides when this happened," said co-manager Buddy Knoebel. "Some had to be rescued from atop The Skyway ride when the electricity shut off."

The 14-minute-long ski lift ride, which takes passengers 360 feet off the ground, is operated by a computer, so when the electricity shut off, the ride shut down.

A backup gas generator had to be turned on and that's how the guests were brought down safely, with no injuries reported.

The first indication of a power failure occurred at 8:50, Knoebel said. "There were a series of three glitches in which the power shut off and then came right back on," he said. "At that point, the roller-coaster cars paused at the starter gate and the operation went into a cautionary mode."

There were three power glitches followed by a final power outage at 9 p.m.

"At this point, the park went dark," Knoebel said.

According to the PPL Web site, 417 customers in the area were affected by the blackout.

There was no indication when the power might be restored or what caused the outage.

Golf carts and maintenance and fire truck headlights were used to illuminate the walkways, so that people could leave safely.

"Thankfully, all of this happened at the end of the day, when people were already preparing to go," Knoebel said. "So the evacuation was quite orderly and I didn't get any reports of panic."

Lara and Susan Willet, sisters from Shamokin, were two customers about to go on the ferris wheel when the power went out.

"I'm not too upset by what happened, but I'm sure glad I wasn't at the top when this happened," said Lara Willet.

Knoebel estimated that there were an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 guests at the resort on Thursday. "Some of those customers were staying at our campgrounds. The power is out there, too, so they are going to have to camp in the dark tonight," he said.

By 10, most of the resort's parking lots were empty.