Dump truck accident fells poles, transformer

A softball throws away from the fields at John Maccarone Stadium, a dump truck from Stasi Brother Asphalt in Westbury felled two telephone poles in front of 44 Morris Ave. 

“Came out and the bed didn’t go down and hit the wire,” said the driver of the dump truck, who would not give his name. 

According to Glen Cove Police, when the driver was leaving Rason Asphalt at 10:57 a.m. on Tuesday the back portion of his truck wasn’t lowered. It came in contact with wires which caused two telephone poles as well and a transformer to fall to the ground. 

Although no one was hurt, fluid from the transformer drained onto the street causing the road close to the stadium to become slippery. 

One of the poles hit a parked Volvo SUV. The owner, a man from Stone Creation, was at the scene but wouldn’t comment or provide his name. He did say that he didn’t see his car struck and had just arrived.  The SUV was his wife’s, he said. Holding a police report, the man said he’d only been using the car for the day. 

Alberto Calderon, sanitation supervisor for Glen Cove’s Department of Public Works, was at the site when the accident happened. Along with a PSEG worker, Calderon helped the driver get out of his truck and to safety. 

“[The] PSEG guy came and cut the power off till the gentleman was able to get out of the truck,” Calderon said. “But what me and the gentlemen from PSEG did, we were able to unhook the power lines from the truck, so he could get out.”

After it was safe to do so, Calderon said he tried helping the driver remove the power lines from the dump truck, so he could try to lower the back portion of the truck. 

Power to the area was lost because of the accident. According to Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck and Glen Cove’s DPW on Wednesday, Glen Cove Fire Department responded to the accident. 

“We received calls from our local DPW facility on Morris Avenue and some local businesses that they lost power,” Panzenbeck said. 

PSEG workers on the scene addressed the damages. One of the workers said the poles would be fixed and the scene of the accident cleared by the end of the day. 

Panzenbeck added that the power was restored in the area within two hours. 

Dennis Mackinnon, owner of Cove Plumbing Supply, was inside his trailer in front of his business when the accident occurred. He said he lost power in his trailer. 

After Mackinnon heard the loud noise he looked outside and saw that a pole had fallen by a parked car. When he looked down the street, he saw the dump truck entangled in wires. 

“We’re lucky that the pole didn’t come this way,” Mackinnon said, because his trailer was next to one of the poles that fell. 

When he tried to leave his trailer there was a loose wire blocking his way,  Mackinnon said. Fearing for his safety, he remained inside his trailer. “I didn’t come out for a while because I thought it might have been live,” he said, “and then figured out it wasn’t and pulled it down.” 

At 1 p.m. Mackinnon remained waiting for the area to be cleared so he could move his car from the parking area behind the trailer. 

According to PSEG’s website, when a power line is down, it does not immediately shut off and most do not have sufficient insulation to prevent shocks or electrocution hazards. When seeing a downed wire, PSEG advises people to stay at least 300 feet away and to call 911 immediately and report it to the power authority. 

The dump truck is being inspected by police for safety violations. As of Wednesday morning, Panzenbeck said that the area of the accident on Morris Avenue has been cleared. 

“Everything’s back and everything’s back intact,” Panzenbeck said. “The poles [and] everything is back in tact.”