Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST
TRACTOR TRAILER TANGLED
IN HIGH TENSION WIRES
Photos and video of the event at the following links below
https://www.facebook.com/Duffyculturalcourture/?ref=bookmarks
https://www.facebook.com/Duffyculturalcourture/posts/748437078652198
This past week brought high winds to the Mercer County area. On March 2, at approximately 7:15AM, a large tree fell onto the high tension wires due to high winds, on Sweetbriar Ave in Hamilton Township. The tree severed the wires, an explosion happened and the hot 30,000 volt high tension wires were flapping around for 2 hours on the street, before the power company came to shut the power off.
A single Hamilton police officer came to the scene quickly. This was during rush hour. As anyone in the township knows, this is a high traffic zone during rush hour. All of the traffic lights on the road were off due to severed high tension wire killing all the power in the community. This solitary Hamilton police officer had quite the task to deal with because it was morning rush hour. He parked his policer crusier catty corner near Sandalwood Ave. He ran down the street to stop traffic near Leigh Ave to divert it down the side streets. This included all the truck traffic as well. He had all the tractor trailers driving thru the residential community from Whitehead and from Sloan Rd.
The first truck that took the turn onto Sandalwood created quite the emergency situation. He drove his rig right through all the broken, hanging 30,000 hot volts of wire. YEP....he did that. When he started to do this you could see the telephone poles on the entire street get pulled as if to come down. The fire department had arrived by this time and saw what this driver had done and ran to his truck to scream STOP!!
The solitary Hamilton police officer was standing next to his cruiser and allowed this truck to do this. But in his defense, he was one person trying to manage quite a horrible situation. The director of public safety in Hamilton should be ashamed of themselves for putting this amazing officer in this position. It's completely unfair and dangerous to have done to this police officer.
At this point, the traffic on Sweetbriar Ave was a complete mess. All the trucks on the road were making uturns on the road creating massive havoc. The tractor trailers and cars were making uturns on the road for about 30 minutes before the solitary police officer went higher up on the road to close the road at the light above American Metro Way.
We learned from the fire department that the reason there was one solitary police officer dispatched was because there was only one to send. There were no others available.
There was no warning given to residents from the township leadership of the dangerous situation that was right outside their doors. (the live 30,000 volts wires that were swinging in the breeze)
Our hearts go out to the single police officer that was on site. We question as to the type of training they are given to manage these kinds of situations. Neighbors were all out walking around right next to the live wires before the fire department arrived to warn everyone of the live wire situation.
The tractor trailer that drove throught the live wires was told by the fire department to stay in his truck. They had to leave the truck driver in his cab because he was grounded in the truck. If he got out he would have been eletrocuted. The driver sat there for over 1.5 hours. He kept his rig running the entire time polluting the community. The township has ordinances that state you cannot leave your vehicles idle.
In speaking with the Firemen on the scene, they stated that Hamilton only had one cop to send. They validated that why there was only one officer on the scene.
Residents can be frustrated with the actions of the officer, but he was one guy. Why would the leadership of Hamilton put this police officer in harms way and make him manage a tough situation by himself? What kind of training do they go thru to ensure their safety in this kind of situation? In the evenings, the police also travel solo in the town. With the rise in crime in Hamilton this is not a good situation for residents or the policemen's safety.
There was zero calls to residents to warn them of the live 30,000 volts that was swinging in the breeze to tell them to stay inside.
It took PSEG all day to fix this situation. Residents reached out to the mayors office, all calls went unresponded to. Residents in this Cornell Heights area have been trying to contact the mayor and the leadership for years on the tractor trailer issue in the neighborhood. All plea's for help go unanswered. Due to the fact these cries for help continue to be unanswered, residents that day reached out to Govenor Christie's office. They got one of his assistants. This assistants very snotty response was," Govenor Christie is not responsible for helping with this situation. He has nothing to do with your safety".
Thank God there are term limits for governors, because we need a govenor that cares about NJ residents safety. Too bad there are no term limits for mayors. The governors need to care when local leadership is not responding to residents and allowing unsafe communities to fluorish. What is happening in Hamilton, Mercer county is quite concerning for residents and the police department.The recent crime reports are equally as concerning in the township.
https://www.tammyduffy.com/ARTFASHION/index.blog/2363194/how-safe-are-residents-in-hamilton-mercer-county/
What would happen if Hamilton township had a large issue occur? We guess you better hope you have a shelter to go hide in on your property. For the local leadership will not help or guide residents on how to be safe.
Posted by tammyduffy
at 8:50 AM EST
Updated: Saturday, 4 March 2017 8:58 AM EST
