Photo courtesy of George Hesse, OBFD.
An electrical fire was ignited, causing brief power outages after a bulldozer nicked a 23K-volt underground power cable this morning on Fire Island. The bulldozer is owned by Great Lakes Dredging and Dock Corporation, which has been undertaking a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracted beach renourishment project on the western end of Fire Island since the beginning of this year.
The incident happened at approximately 10:20 a.m. near the junction of Burma Road and the Town of Islip concession stand known as The Shack meet in the community of Atlantique, where Great Lakes has been based for the duration of the project.
“The bulldozer operator said a fireball went up at the moment of contact and he could feel the electric surge within the cab,” said George Hesse, Chief of Ocean Beach Fire Department, who was on the scene.
However, Hesse cited no injuries, and he further reported no mutual aid was necessary, the fire burned itself out in the sand before PSEG Long Island arrived. Power outages between the communities of Atlantique through Seaview were brief and intermittent as power was rerouted by PSEG while the OBFD diverted traffic until temporary repairs were made.
