Police Department Using Generator After Power Outage

The Millburn Police Department has had power problems since Tuesday night, which culminated in a full outage for a short time on Wednesday afternoon.

Jersey Central Power & Light was at police headquarters on Wednesday afternoon to repair the problems after there was an outage in the department's back-up power system.

The department's back-up generator had been in use since Tuesday night when there was an outage, said Capt. James Miller, police public information officer. The generator stopped working for a short time on Wednesday. The Essex County Office of Emergency Management has set up an emergency generator in front of police headquarters, which required one lane of traffic to be closed in the area.

Police Lt. Peter Eakley said the county's generator means the department will have power even if there are further problems during the repairs. It could take several hours for the repairs to be complete.

But the cause of the outage at police headquarters has yet to be determined, and Eakley wouldn't blame it on the heat. The cause will only be determined after JCP&L finished its work.

There were no reports of other power outages in the area, including at the Millburn Fire Department, which is next door to police headquarters.

The phone system for township government offices also went down for a short period on Wednesday afternoon, which was tied to the generator issues at the police department. Township Administrator Tim Gordon said the phone outage may have been tied to the work that needed to be done with the county's generator coming online.

At no time was the township's 911 system down. Miller said the 911 system works that emergency calls are routed to another emergency center in case of problems.