UPDATE: Live Power Lines Ignite Lawn On Old Mill Road
Fire Department on scene on 1700 block of Old Mill Road
UPDATE: 7:10 p.m.: More than an hour after a live power line fell onto an Old Mill driveway igniting a residental lawn, the downed line is still arching and firefighters are still awaiting utility workers to turn off the power, residents said.
A large portion of the driveway on the 1700 block of Old Mill Road near Route 138 has been damaged, said Barbara Bassell, owner of the home.
The fire that the line started before 6 p.m. is contained at the front of the home's yard and is no threat to any structures, Bassell said.
Power to the line was turned off just after 7 p.m., residents said.
"It's a good thing it rained,'' said Tom Carroll, Bassell's husband. "Or else we would have likely lost our house.''
------ Original Story ------------
A downed power line ignited the front lawn of an Old Mill Road resident ahead of Wednesday's storm.
The incident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on the 1700 block of Old Mill Road, near Route 138. A transformer blew and a power line fell across the driveway of the residence and caught the front lawn on fire, witnesses said.
Firefighters are on scene, awating utility workers to shut power to the downed line.
Jason Z.
8:07 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
According to the above story, it took JCP&L over an HOUR to de-energize the downed lines. In light of their performance last year during Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm, this is no surprise and is cause for outrage, especially when they pulled in over $90 million than authorized last year. Thank G*d it was raining last night, otherwise that home and possibly surrounding homes would have gone up in flames. Once again, JCP&L puts profits far ahead of public safety and the safety of our first responders. Where is the outrage? Where are the hearings?