Crime & Safety
Transformer Fire Causes Massive Power Outages
The cause of the fire at Bellmore Road and North Jerusalem Road is undetermined, fire officials said.
Officials are investigating a transformer fire that broke out at the Long Island Power Authority substation at the intersection of Bellmore Road and North Jerusalem Road Friday.
“There was a transformer fire in the power plant, and it heated on a storage tank,” North Bellmore Fire Department Third Assistant Chief Michael Rut said. “We’re not sure how it got started. It could’ve been the heat or it could have been a malfunction in the transformer.”
Trucks from the North Bellmore and Wantagh Fire Department responded to the scene where East Meadow, Bellmore and Wantagh intersect. Traffic was shut down just after 3:15 p.m. in all directions while officials investigated the incident.
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“The situation is safe,” Rut added. “Power is just going to be out in the area for a while.”
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According to the LIPA, 13,697 customers were affected.
“All customers have been picked up since 4:10 p.m. The longest outage was about 45 minutes,” said Elizabeth Flagler, a LIPA spokesperson.
Update: June 15, 2012 at 5:26 p.m.
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