Downed High Voltage Power Lines Cause Fire

Downed High Voltage Power Lines Cause Fire

Washington Township--On Sunday September 11, 2005, the Washington Township Fire Department responded to a fire on Main Street in the Windsor section of Washington Township. Firefighters were originally dispatched to investigate a report of a live power line down in the road. When the first engine from the Washington Township Fire Department arrived they found that the live power line had ignited a car fire that was spreading to another nearby vehicle.

A full first-alarm structural assignment was requested due to the proximity of the vehicles on fire to an occupied home. For obvious safety reasons, firefighters were forced to wait until the utility company arrived and disconnected power from the live wires prior to attacking the fire. Once power was shut off, the fire was quickly extinguished. While both cars were a total loss, the home was saved and suffered only cosmetic damage from the radiant heat of the burning cars.

Washington Township Fire Department was assisted at the scene by firefighters from Hamilton Township. There were no injuries reported to firefighters or residents.

Published in the Messenger Press on 09/15/2005

Likely culprit in Windsor fire — squirrel

By: Lauren Burgoon , Staff Writer

Fire Chief says a squirrel who ate through active electric wires probably caused Windsor fire.

   WASHINGTON — A Windsor village family stood by helplessly Sunday morning as a fire, likely started by a hungry squirrel who ate through overhead power lines, engulfed two of their cars and threatened their home.
   The Sunday morning blaze at Robert and Laura Knight's home was unusual, both because of the culprit and because the Fire Department could not safely douse the flames for nearly two hours until the power was shut off.
   The fire started at 6:48 a.m. on North Main Street when two heavy-duty, active electric wires crashed to the ground. Fire Chief Kevin Brink said a squirrel probably chewed through one power line, which sliced a second wire on its way down. Firefighters responded to the home and found the wires, each carrying 7,000 volts of electricity, arcing.
   "You can't go near arcing wires because they energize everything they touch. (For example) if there was a metal pipe below ground that became energized, someone could be electrocuted standing 20 feet away. We couldn't spray water because the electricity travels through the water and the firefighters would be electrocuted," Chief Brink said. "We couldn't do anything until the power company cut the electricity."
   That did not happen until 8:25 a.m. — almost two hours later. In the meantime, the wires ignited a bush. Fire crews tried to spray fire-dousing chemicals from afar, but the attempt didn't work. The fire then spread to two cars in the Knights' driveway, creating an extremely hot fire that threatened their home and a nearby propane tank.
   "We could see heat waves radiating from the cars and melting the house's siding," Chief Brink said. "Luckily the power lines went dead just then and it didn't take much longer" to extinguish the fire.
   After being unable to safely extinguish the fire for almost two hours, the crews, including companies from East Windsor, Hightstown and Groveville, put out the flames in under 10 minutes.
   The Knights and their pets are fine, Mr. Knight said Tuesday. The home did not sustain structural damage, though siding, windows and possibly the roof will need to be replaced, as well as the two cars.
   Still, the family is keeping a sense of humor about the situation. They dubbed the offending squirrel "Sparky." Unfortunately, Sparky wasn't as lucky as the family — it was found dead under the power lines.

Photos from East Winsdsor Fire Company # 1

Photos from Groveville Fire Company