Just another day in the office it's not for the city of Mason's finance department because, well, they're not in their office.

"We are in the city of Mason fire station," says Eric Smith, city treasurer.

The fire station is the only municipal building in town with electricity-- but only because they have a generator.

The lights-- and everything else-- went out Wednesday night, leaving the police department and City Hall working out of the fire station.

"We had to find work that was non-computerized, so we decided to start stuffing our summer tax bills," Smith says.

Stuffing bills-- to avoid the stuffy halls.

"It's exceptionally hot," says Sgt. Ed Hude of the Mason Police Department.

But not just that; with power out, so too are the phones for 911, which Ingham County is covering.

"With no generators in that building, we're somewhat paralyzed," Hude says.

Consumers Energy says the reason there's no lights, no electricity and no air conditioning is because of a failed transformer-- something that becomes more common during the hot, hot summer months.

A Consumers spokesman tells us many things can kill a transformer-- and Wednesday's blazing heat and high demand for electricity didn't help anything.

In Lansing, Board of Water and Light spokesman Mark Nixon says demand for electricity right now is through the roof.

"As of right now, we're on pace to produce more electricity than we did yesterday-- demand is up from just one day ago," Nixon says.

It's a hot spell Mason city workers hope doesn't keep them out of their office for much longer.

The potluck for Mason Seniors has been canceled Thursday night.