WALTHAM, Mass. — A tractor-trailer tore down power lines in a parking lot in Waltham on Friday, setting multiple vehicles ablaze, including at least one school van, a fire official said.
Crews responding to a report of a transformer fire in the area of 5th Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. found high-power tension wires draped across a burning vehicle, and the tractor-trailer in question stopped nearby, according to Waltham Fire Department Lt. Mike Murphy.
Murphy said at least two other vehicles also caught fire because the power lines were still energized after firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames.
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“The power that comes off a distribution line, when it falls on the ground, can blow up chunks of concrete. So, it’s very dangerous,” Murphy said. “We had to make sure no brush fires started.”
Murphy said the downed lines resulted in one person getting stuck in the elevator of a nearby building. Students at the Milestone Day School also had to be evacuated through a different exit to the emergency response.
The truck driver wasn’t hurt and the vehicles that caught fire were unoccupied.
Lt. Mike Murphy said they had to wait alongside the fire until Eversource cut power to the live wires.
“Electrical (fire) always comes with extra danger,” said Murphy. “You have to be aware of it. The kind of power that comes out a distribution line could, when it falls on the ground, blow up chunks of concrete. So, it’s very powerful. It also has the danger of starting fires like it did for these cars.”
He told Boston 25 that nearby Milestones Day School was escorted out a different exit to avoid the scene.
Nearby businesses, he said, were told to stay inside until the wires were cut.
Workers nearby came to check out the fiery scene.
“I had no idea,” said Jay Copson, a worker at a nearby data center. “We couldn’t really figure out what was going on. We figured it was a fiber cut somewhere.”
Copson told Boston 25 their center had to use backup fiber lines to operate on Friday afternoon.
He claims a truck a few years back downed a wire in the same area.
Copson explained, “Something about this hill-- they’ve been doing a lot of construction around here. So, I figured it would happen again.”
Motorists were urged to avoid the area of Border Road, 5th Avenue, and 5th Avenue at 3rd Avenue.
The incident remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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