LUNENBURG, Mass. -- Almost two weeks since a crippling ice storm left tens of thousands of Bay State homeowners in the dark, hundreds are still without power in the central Massachusetts towns of Ashby, Fitchburg, Lunenburg and Townsend.

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One of those towns is now ready to pull the plug on its utility company as dozens of enraged residents told their elected officials Tuesday night that they want Unitil fired.

Twelve days of frustration and outrage came to head as Lunenburg residents told their Board of Selectmen they want the company out of their town.

"After a week of my children sitting by a fireplace trying to keep warm, and almost dropping wood on my daughter's head, it was too much," Paul Royka told the board.

Most residents in the town only just got their power back on Wednesday, more than a week and half after a vicious ice storm downed trees and power lines across the central part of the state, knocking out electricity to thousands of homes. Now, they're switching their energies to demanding answers and accountability.

"Unitil has failed and I want them fired," one woman told the board.

Town selectmen also said they were furious, claiming Unitil kept them in the dark as well. They alleged that for days the company refused to share updates with them, keeping the entire town in an information vacuum.

"The updates for streets were something we asked for, in fact begged for, and in every turn of the way we were denied," Selectman Tom Alonzo said.

Residents, however, said the town itself had a communication breakdown. Homeowners had no idea what they were facing.

"My suggestion would be to have had a galvanized force of police, firemen and other recruiters coming down every street and telling everybody, like Paul Revere, that the power was not coming," another resident said.

In the end, it took a call from the governor to persuade Unitil to let National Grid step in. Residents praised that utility for coming to their rescue.

"I helped one of them in the CVS store the other day, he said he was a lineman. I asked him where he was from, he said Indiana. He traveled from Indiana to help us," said Linda Vickery, who was without power for 11 days.

The state Department of Public Utilities said it is going to launch an investigation into Unitil's storm preparedness and response.

"The first order of business is for utilities to restore power to all of their customers," DPU Chairman Paul Hibbard said. "Once that is complete, the DPU will take an in-depth look at utilities' performance during the storm and in the aftermath, and consider what they could -- and perhaps should -- have done better to avoid prolonged power outages in some parts of the commonwealth."

Unitil's senior vice president, George Gantz, has said he welcomes the probe.

The department plans to hold a series of public hearings to take first-hand testimony from utility managers, elected officials and residential and business customers. In addition, customers will have an opportunity to file written comments with the DPU, which will become part of the official record of the proceeding.

Complaints may be filed through the DPU Consumer Division's online Complaint Form by e-mail to consumer.complaints@state.ma.us or by mail to:

DPU, Consumer Division One South Station Suite 2 Boston, MA 02110

Meanwhile, hundreds of Bay State residents were still without power Tuesday -- including more than 700 customers in Fitchburg, 292 in Ashby, 59 in Lunenburg and 35 in Townsend.

Some residents found ways to vent their frustrations -- including Sara Bushey, of Fitchburg, who posted a sign that read: "On the 12-th day of Ice-Mass, my two kids said to me, 'Why can't we light our Christmas tree?'"

"The kids are wondering if Santa is going to find our house," Bushey said.