Truck Snags Wires, Knocks Out Power, Cable, Phones To More Than 1,500: Authorities

NEPTUNE, NJ — A tractor-trailer caught wires on the trailer portion of the truck and pulled down wires, knocking out power and telephone service to more than 1,500 homes in Neptune and surrounding towns late Wednesday morning, authorities said.

The Neptune Township Office of Emergency Management said the incident, which happened shortly before noon, pulled down the wires at the intersection of Neptune Boulevard and West Bangs Avenue, breaking at least one utility pole in the process.

The driver, who was not injured, was forced to stay in the truck for about 15 minutes until crews from Jersey Central Power and Light arrived and shut off power to the wires, OEM officials said.

The outage initially affected more than 1,500 homes and knocked out traffic light and telephones in Neptune and surrounding towns, OEM officials said.

Neptune Boulevard was closed between West Lake Avenue and ShopRite, they said, and urge motorists to avoid the area.

JCP&L, on its FirstEnergy outage site, said it expected power to be restored by about 2:30 p.m. but at 1:20 p.m. Neptune OEM tweeted that power had been restored. Verizon and Cablevision service disruptions remain, OEM's tweet said.

Photos via Neptune Township OEM