Feb. 28--EDISON, N.J. -- The fire is out and PSE&G says power should now be restored for the 13,000 customers who were impacted by a spectacular transformer fire at the Metuchen Switching substation off Route 1 in Edison, NJ. A worker was alerted by an alarm shortly after 4 o'clock. The fire was quickly elevated to 3 alarms, bringing out dozens of firefighters from Edison, along with HazMat crews and the Middlesex County Foam Task Force.
At the height of the blaze, flames shot 50 feet high and were visible from 20 miles away. The substation provides power to parts of Edison and Metuchen. An estimated 13,000 customers were impacted. For firefighters, the electrical fire was stubborn and challenging.
Edison Batallion Chief Steve Deak told PIX 11 News, "The greatest challenge was the buildings around the transformer, the fire was driven by electrical power around the transformer and high tension wires.". He said the flames were fueled by mineral oil that is stored in a container in the transformer unit.
PSE &G immediately dispatched crews to restore power to the affected areas. Jack Bridges said he expected all power to be restored by midnight. Back up systems, he told us, prevented even greater outages. "PSE&G has a loop system that provides a redundancy," he said.
Firefighters doused the transformer with foam and managed to contain the fire in a little over an hour. The fire created massive traffic jams at the height of the evening rush along Route 1 and Route 287.
Firefighter were expected to remain at he scene all night to "cool things down." There were no injuries and cause of the fire has not been determined. But fire officials were quick to say it did not appear to be suspicious.
Copyright 2012 - WPIX-TV, New York
