3 vehicles damaged in fire sparked by downed power lines in Waltham, Massachusetts
By AARON PARSEGHIAN
A tractor-trailer brought down high-voltage power lines in Waltham, Massachusetts on Friday, sparking a fire that damaged three vehicles, including at least one school bus van, and temporarily knocked out power to hundreds.
The incident happened just before noon near Totten Pond Road, when the truck caught low-hanging power lines while a witness said they were trying to back into a loading dock.
The snag sent the live cables crashing into a nearby parking lot, where they ignited multiple vehicles.
"I heard an explosion, it almost sounded like a gunfire, like something exploding," said Marilyn Ross, who was driving by and recorded thick black smoke pouring from the scene.
Waltham firefighters said the energized lines initially prevented them from extinguishing the car fires.
"Because they still had the lines on top of them that were energized, we were unable to extinguish them at that time," said Waltham Fire Lt. Mike Murphy.
Out of precaution, the nearby Milestones Day School was evacuated, and nearby businesses were ordered to shelter in place as crews worked to secure the area.
Eversource said they remotely de-energized the wires and began restoring power to roughly 600 affected customers. The utility said about a dozen remained without service as of late Friday afternoon.
Officials urged the public to stay away from the area while firefighters continued checking for other potentially stressed wires.
"There's a lot of energy coming out of those wires," Murphy said. "It can even blow up holes in the pavement and things like that. So it's very powerful. So that's why we treat it with such respect."
No injuries were reported.