UPDATE: 200 Customers Remain in the Dark after Transformer Fire at DPW Yard

3:15 p.m.: Only 200 customers remain in the dark as the result of a transformer explosion and fire in the Department of Public Works Yard on C Street at 12:45 p.m. this afternoon, May 31, that orginally cut power to 1,500 households and businesses, according to a spokeswoman for the Belmont Municipal Light Department.

BMLD's Jennifer Santoro said that power will be restored to all customers by 4 p.m. this afternoon.

According to Santoro, the incident that hit 15 percent of BMLD customers occurred when a DPW dump truck driving through the department's yard caught a line of low-hanging electrical wires.

As the truck traveled into the yard, the wires bent and finally broke a utility pole with three transformers on it, she said.

Angus Davison, Belmont's assistant fire chief, told Belmont Patch that the three  transformers mounted to that pole then fell to the ground and caused an explosion, which set the pole on fire which then caught a storage shed on fire. The shed stored power equipment which contained gasoline.

The loss of the transformers then led to the ensuing power outage. 

The fire was quickly knocked down by the Fire Department, said Davison.

The fire damage to the shed was moderate, but the damage to the wires and electrical equipment was substantial.

Clean Harbors, the environmental removal company, was called to assist the BMLD in cleaning up the yard as the transformers are considered hazardous material.

According to Santoro, the power outage impacted an area from Lower Common Street to Lexington on the Watertown line and Slade Street to Pleasant Street. 

The damages will reach $15,000, said Santoro.

1:26 p.m: Large parts of the Waverley neighborhood are without power as a transformer fire in the Department of Public Works Yard off C Street spread to one of the department's repair buildings where flammable liquids is stored igniting the structure.

Reports indicate that around 12:45 p.m., a pole which the transformer was hanging was struck by a vehicle sparking the fire. Quickly flames reportedly spread to an adjacent building where combustible fluid was located.

It is reported that Belmont Fire Department and fire equipment from surrounding towns have brought the fire under control.

Acrid smoke from the fire could be seen and smelled as the fire cut power to nearby parts of Belmont.

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