Wires Down on Byram Lake Road

With the large snowstorm that hit our area last Thursday and Friday (dumping around 2 feet of snow) the freezing rain and heavy snow brought the department over 10 calls, many of them for wires down or burning/arcing wires. With the snow still melting and adding more weight to the power lines the company was still being dispatched to downed wires on Monday well after the storm. Two times on Monday, March 1st the Independents and the Rescue Fire Police responded to wires down and burning at the intersection of Sarles Street and Byram Lake Road. The initial call was for wires on the roadway (13Kv aerial feeder cable) leaving not much for IFCO members to do but secure the scene and await Con Edison's arrival. After the fire department had left the companies were re-toned later for a similar call at the same location. On arrival the downed wire from the previous call had burned through the roadway and began melting the asphalt deep under the road bed. IFCO crews broke up the melted portion of the roadway and cooled down the melting asphalt with a hoseline off of Engine 106. The downed wires had melted the roadway which caused the temperature of the roadway to reach way above the boiling point of water. The boiling water evaporated off almost as fast as we hosed it on. The area was eventually cooled and MKFD units returned to service.