A 7000 volt power line shorted and fell across Merrick Road closing the busy roadway for hours on Tuesday, October 12, 2010.  The live high voltage power line set the asphalt roadway afire and briefly caused an outage in many parts of the village, including at village hall.   The shorted wire may have also caused the injury of a worker some ten blocks away who received a shock at her desk when the line fell.

The Lynbrook Fire Department, under the command of Second Deputy Chief Anthony DeCarlo responded to the fire call at the intersection of Merrick Road and John Street at about 9:20 AM with Vulcan Company, Hose Company, and the Extrication Team.  Upon arrival on the scene the firefighters could only stand-by and wait until LIPA arrived to shut off the power before they could move in and extinguish the burning asphalt.  Right after the wire fell and the fire began the Lynbrook police were first on the scene and stopped all traffic.  While firefighters were at the fire scene, the department's Emergency Medical Company responded to the Verizon Building on Washington Street where an employee received a shock while working at her desk.  The downed power line was blamed for the shock.  The Medical Company transported the worker to South Nassau in stable condition. 

Once the power was turned off Lynbrook firefighters moved in first with a dry powder extinguisher then a hose line to put out the fire.  Firefighters were at the scene for about an hour and a half.  Once the fire was extinguished Nassau County Public Works employees also responded to the scene as Merrick Road is a county road.   They roadway was re-opened some two hours later.