| At 5:15 PM on Monday, Croton Fire was dispatched to the area of Quaker Bridge Road East and River Lane for the report of wires down and burning. On the assignment were Engine 118 and Rescue 18 - who turned out within minutes of dispatch with ample volunteers.
Engine 118 was on location first, and confirmed the downed 13 KV electrical line which was grounding out on the roadway, causing a fire. Car 2088 (Deputy Chief P. Dinkler) assumed command and requested Con Edison to respond.
While units were on scene, an explosion occurred which was originally believed to be a transformer. Further investigation actually revealed something different.
Personnel knew the downed electrical line was grounding out on the pavement, but until now did not realize it burned itself down far enough to come in to contact with a drain pipe underneath. The extremely high voltage generated enough heat to boil the water in the 12" pipe. The steam that came from this pipe caused the cement drain well to explode, heavily damaging it.
In addition to Con Edison, the Town of Cortlandt DPW was notified to make repairs to the road and drain, and Verizon was contacted to remove a tree that fell on their telecommunication lines.
Car 2081 released all units from the scene and turned the matter over to Con Edison shortly before 8:00 PM.
During this incident, CFD volunteers also responded to a residential fire alarm on the other side of the Mount Airy/Quaker Bridge Fire Protection District. This incident was handled by Engine 119, Tower Ladder 44 and Tanker 10.
Between the two incidents, over two dozen CFD volunteers staffed five apparatus. |
