Live Wires Down, Fires and Outages in Toms River

Electric power is returning to the Silverton section of Toms River, where live wires snapped and fell in a mishap with a truck earlier this morning.

Jersey Central Power and Light's outage map indicated at least 500 customers plunged into darkness when a rig carrying debris from a Superstorm-damaged house triggered the incident around 8:22 AM.

Accounts of the cause differ. Police said the truck hauling a dumpster snagged overhead wires.

Pete Joaner of JCP&L said that the rig hit a Verizon cable anchoring a utility pole, snapping it and sending into contact with the overhead wiring that subsequently split, hit trees below and ignited a "small fire."

Police reported several ground fires that required time and care for Silverton firefighters to address without hitting live voltage.

Joaner indicated that traffic detours would stay in place for several hours during pole repairs, but he could not speculate on a completion time.