A tree fell on powerlines Sunday, causing an electrical fire in the road that damaged the gas main underground. A shelter-in-place from earlier has been lifted.
MADISON, Connecticut — Madison residents were startled early Sunday morning when fire trucks raced over to an electrical fire caused by a fallen tree.
According to workers at the scene, the tree came down on power lines on Overbrook Road, sparking an electrical fire that also electrified a nearby gas main.
The Madison Police Department asked people nearby to avoid the area of Overbrook Road between Opening Hill Road and Colonial Road due to the gas leak. A shelter-in-place from earlier Sunday has since been lifted.
According to an Eversource outage map, 24 customers in the area are out of power as of 7 p.m. with an expected restoration time of midnight.
Chris Farmer, a homeowner on Overbrook Road, was one of the first to notice the problem. It was around 6 a.m. when Farmer called the fire department after his power went out. The power quickly came back on, but along with it came the smell of smoke.
“There was electrical stuff on the ground where the natural gas pipe comes into my house, it was sparking because it had been energized because of the tree falling,” Farmer said.
Farmer used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames while waiting for the fire department to arrive.
Local officials responded by shutting off power to the area and ordering residents to shelter in place while repairs were made.
Frank Proto, a nearby resident, couldn’t believe how quickly the situation unfolded.
“Power outage, gas leak supposedly, lockdown, the whole day,” Proto said.
As crews from Eversource and Southern Connecticut Gas worked to make repairs, the smell of gas filled the neighborhood. Overbrook Road was closed off to traffic, with construction vehicles lining the street as work continued.
Proto and Farmer both noted the unfortunate timing of the incident, which disrupted their Mother’s Day plans.
“We had plans, we basically couldn’t get out. We’re gonna do it another day so, bummer for everybody,” Proto said.
Farmer, who had plans to move his son home after his graduation from college, was frustrated by the situation.
“We were looking for a good Mother’s Day, my son graduated from UConn last night and we gotta go move him home and he’s coming home to no power, no hot water, nothing like that, so it’s a real pain,” Farmer said.
Farmer added that he would like to see the town do more to remove unhealthy trees that are located too close to power lines, to prevent such incidents in the future.
Joe Monte is a Multi-Skilled Journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at JMonte@FOX61.com.
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