BAYONNE – Downed power lines exploding with bright white flashes near LeFante Way in Bayonne caused adjacent brush to ignite during the evening rush hour on Feb. 21 at about 6:30 pm.

The Bayonne Fire Department responded to the call of downed wires in the area of Dee & L and Kedem warehouses, and found multiple power and telecommunications wires down. Three of the 13,000 volt wires were emitting blinding light. Firefighters could not address the brush fire, which had extended about 75 yards, until PSE&G was able to shut down the power, said Fire Chief Greg Rogers.

“Deep burns and scaring to the road were left behind by the damaging high voltage lines,” Rogers said. “Approximately 60 people in total were evacuated from the two warehouses as a precaution. The downed wires, which fed the Dee & L Warehouse, were found pulled and severed in the direction of an adjacent railcar line, along with two leaning utility poles. A train had reportedly passed through around the time of the incident.”

The power was shut down at 7:45 p.m. and power began to be restored at about 9 p.m. There were no reported injuries.