Officials: Power line topples, causes fire in front of church in Belleville

Officials say a power line toppled and caused a fire in the road in front of a Belleville church Sunday morning.

News 12 Staff

Jun 16, 2019, 1:26 PM

Updated 1,937 days ago

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Officials say a power line toppled and caused a fire in the road in front of a Belleville church Sunday morning.
They say around 5:50 a.m., a pole holding three transformers toppled into the street, spilling oil on William Street. The power lines then came down and caused a small fire.
Eighty-five gallons of liquid from the transformer spilled onto the road, causing the fire and subsequent explosion.
The church, St. Peter's, was holding a Mass during the incident. Fire crews deemed that it was safe for service to continue.
"It is a little miracle that nothing more serious happened," said Father Ivan Sciberras. "Here, early in the morning, there are always neighbors walking the dogs, also the cars were parked in a way that weren't even damaged. Also, the place where the pole collapsed, a car had just been taken out a few minutes ago."
The southern part of Belleville was without power for about an hour. PSEG crews remained at the scene Sunday morning.
Fire crews tell News 12 the situation could've been much worse. No injuries were reported.
Power has been restored to the area. Officials haven't confirmed what caused the transformer to come down.