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A Few Clouds 'It was like a bomb' hit Newbridge Road
Nearly 600 lose electricity after Mylar balloon strikes power lines in East Meadow, Levittown
Irene Edwards was in her upstairs bedroom on Monday afternoon when she heard an explosion. Edwards, who lives on Blue Spruce Road in Levittown, said her house shook. She thought the worst. “It was like a bomb,” Edwards said. “I just stood there frozen. It was so frightening.” The sound she heard was not the result of a bomb. Instead, it appears that the culprit was . . . a balloon. According to Mark Gross, a spokesman for the Long Island Power Authority, at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday, a Mylar balloon made contact with a primary wire on a power line on Newbridge Road, at the border of East Meadow and Levittown. Mylar balloons, often used for birthday parties and corporate functions, are made of a metallic material that can create short circuits, and they have been known to cause outages when they strike power lines. “This is not the first time,” Gross said. LIPA reported that 588 customers in East Meadow lost power as a result of the balloon incident. Gross said that most customers had their power restored by 5:30 p.m. The East Meadow Fire Department, whose Station No. 3 was within feet of the downed wires, responded to the smoky scene, where broken wires sizzled on the pavement. EMFD Captain Bobby Salvesen of Ladder Co. No. 2 said he was concerned with the proximity of the hot wires to homes, cars, fences and hydrants. “Some people had to stay inside their homes,” Salvesen said. “Some had to get out.” Crews from LIPA worked through the evening to restore power and to safeguard the area from danger. Edwards, and many of her neighbors along Newbridge Road, were temporarily evacuated from their homes until LIPA and fire crews deemed them safe to return to. As they gathered behind caution tape at the scene, Edwards and her neighbors said, they saw a bright light that resembled a lightning bolt. The balloon created such a surge, that it led to more downed wires less than a mile south on Newbridge Road, at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike. Volunteers from the North Bellmore Fire Department were called to assist at that scene. Because of the hazardous conditions, police closed down the northbound lanes of Newbridge at the intersection of Bellmore Road. It remained closed through most of the evening rush hour, which led to snarled traffic across the community. In addition, the right lanes at the Hempstead Turnpike-Newbridge Road intersection were closed as LIPA crews worked on those downed wires. Drivers reported that traffic on the turnpike was backed up as far as the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. No injuries were reported in the incident.
