Downed High-Tension Wires, Fire Blackout 5,000 Residents

East Main St. at the corner of Church St. was shut down for several hours Monday night as the and dealt with two broken high-tension lines and a fire beneath the street. 

A broken 13.8 KV (13,800 volt) line caused an electrical outage that affected approximately 5,000 Marlborough residents in the Bolton St. area. 

Initial eyewitness reports that said a large truck took down the lines was unsubstantiated by fire officials. 

"There was no truck involved," said Deputy Fire Chief Ron Ayotte. "Somehow the wire had just loosened up, and we're not sure why it came down. Several days of strong wind and other factors could contribute."

National Grid, along with Comcast and NStar responded to the area shortly after emergency crews secured the scene. 

"This is a very dangerous situation for fire crews because the fire can't be extinguished until the power it cut," said Ayotte. "A 13.8 KV wire is very noisy and very hot. The heat even melted a portion of the pavement."

After the initial line fell, continued Ayotte, another line came loose and an underground electrical fire started. This fire was quickly extinguished by MFD personnel. 

One neighbor likened the display to a fireworks show.

"I grabbed my camera and took the first pictures of the wire sparking like a giant sparkler," commented Mike Barth on Marlborough Patch. "Then it (the wire) eventually caught the tree on fire inside the fence of the house on the corner of Church and East Main. When that happened, the Fire Department evacuated that house. The sparking grew worse and became really like a firework show on that corner, with incredible sparking and fire at least 6-10 ft. high. The FD had to stand by for the power to be cut off."

National Grid was able to restore power to most customers approximately an 1.5 hours into the incident, said Ayotte, though some said they did have service until midnight. Crews worked on a permanent fix at the scene throughout the day on Tuesday.

A spokesman for National Grid could not be reached before this story was posted. 

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on the latest Marlborough news, or simply hit the "like" button at the top of this page.