Electrical Fire Causes Power Outage Tuesday Morning

There has been over 60 inches of snow and ice that has fallen on the town of Winchester this winter. The weight of all this extra accumulation has collapsed roofs, caused accidents and forced a number of trees and branches to fall across the town.

Tuesday morning at approximately 8 a.m. at the intersection of Washington Street and Dunham Street, electrical wires caught a tree on fire. Power was lost for about an hour in all the town offices as well as the town center.

No injuries were reported.

“This morning a primary electrical wire was arcing from a telephone pole and was up against a tree,” said Fire Chief John Nash. “This caused the wires to burn and the tree to catch on fire.”

The put out the fire and NSTAR responded to the scene to repair the damaged wires.

According to Nash, the electric company are the ones responsible for trimming the tree branches, but with all the snow that has fallen this season, Nash said that it causes branches and wires to move unexpectedly.

“It happens from time to time,” Nash said. “The weight of the snow changed the position of the trees, and the wire brushed up against it sparking a small fire.”

NSTAR will be working on covering the wires with insulation in order to prevent them from causing another fire. They will also trim the branches that are too close to these electrical wires.