Utility Pole Blaze Causes Hour-Long Closure of Rt. 206

A fire burning near the top of a PSE&G utility pole forced police and firefighters to close a stretch of Lawrence Road (Route 206) in Lawrence Township for about an hour Saturday evening (March 3).

The blaze, reported just after 5:30 p.m., involved a utility pole at Lawrence Road and Jasper Avenue.

When township police and volunteer firefighters from Lawrence Road Fire Co. arrived on scene, smoke was billowing and flames were burning from within the wooden pole, just below where several high-voltage electrical wires were attached to the pole.

As a precaution, police and firefighters closed Lawrence Road and detoured traffic between Review Avenue and Eggerts Crossing Road.

Power to the immediate neighborhood was shut off for about a half-hour to allow PSE&G personnel to safely douse the fire with a portable extinguisher and replace a faulty piece of equipment on the pole known as an insulator.

Power was restored and the roadway reopened by about 6:30 p.m.

PSE&G officials told police and firefighters they planned to send a work crew back out to the scene Sunday morning to better assess to damage caused to the pole by the fire and, if needed, erect a new pole in its place.