Category: Essex Fells NJ Police

Category 10 Winds, Along with Intense Squall and Thunderstorms, Create Instant Chaos Across West Essex Tuesday

5/15/2018

by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com
Published 9:22pm

Hover over Photos to see Locations and Photo Credit
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Big Piece Road at Dell Court, Fairfield PHOTO: Mark Andrew Bilhuber

WEST ESSEX, NJ - Late Tuesday afternoon, West Essex was slammed with a storm so strong that many have questioned if we had a tornado come through the area.

While some areas of New York did see tornados touch down, West Essex experienced a brief, but incredibly powerful, Squall with Whole Gale, Category 10, 66mph Winds, which was followed up by equally damaging Thunderstorms.

The violently intense onset was reported by NOAA's Fairfield Weather Station as a Squall - which they define as a "sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm" - and it began in West Essex at 4:44pm, followed by Thunderstorms which continued until 6:01pm.

In this very short period of time, the Winds, Lightning, and Rain caused a huge amount of damage around the West Essex area.

What follows is a timeline of incidents chronicled as they were reported (not as they occured) to which Police, Fire and DPW crews responded and worked tirelessly to clean up for days:

Tuesday, May 15

4:44pm

Caldwell: Grover Lane by Hatfield Street
- Live wires down
Caldwell: Gladding Road by tennis courts
- Tree uprooted, fell into house; large branch of it pulled down Live Wires
  - Gladding Road closed

4:46pm

North Caldwell: East Greenbrook at Mountain Avenue
- Accident

4:48pm

Fairfield: Krauser's Parking Lot, Hollywood Avenue
- Live wires down on unoccupied car, Active Fire

4:49pm

Fairfield: Carlos Drive
- Active Brush Fire

4:50pm

Caldwell: Thomas Street near cemetary
- Large Tree uprooted and pulled down Utility Pole
  - Transformer Fire
  - Live Wires on car
Caldwell: Prospect Street near cemetary
- Transformer Fire

All available first responders were called to report to headquarters.

4:51pm

West Caldwell: Mountain Avenue near Arbor Road
- Live Wires down
North Caldwell: Mountain Avenue near Arbor Road
- Transformer Fire
  - Mountain Avenue shut down

4:55pm

Fairfield: Dwight Place at Gramon School
- Live Wires down near School and actively burning on side of building by playground,
- causing heavy smoke condition

4:58pm

Essex Fells / Verona: Fells Road near Bloomfield Avenue
- Live Wires arcing on Large tree down

Stewart Road, Essex Fells PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley

5pm

Essex Fells: Stewart Road
- Trees Down, Live Wires down sparking, Utility Pole split

5:02pm

Fairfield: Kingbridge Road by Passaic Avenue
- Utility Pole on Fire

5:04pm

West Caldwell: Francine Avenue near Franklin Avenue
- Live Wire down

5:08pm

Fairfield: Esposito Drive near Midvale Avenue
- Several trees down blocking roads

5:10pm

Caldwell: Elm Road, behind gas station, near White Rock
- Large trees down blocking road
Unclear location, Passaic Avene
- Telephone pole suspended in air by the wires
- other poles snapped

Grandview Avenue by Sunset Drive, North Caldwell PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley

5:11pm

North Caldwell: Grandview Avenue near Sunset Drive
- Large tree down on Live Wires
- Grandview Avenue closed at location

West Caldwell: Bloomfield Avenue, near Sanford Avenue
- Live Wires down, cars attempting to drive through it
  - Road closed
  - Traffic backed up to Passaic Avenue

5:14pm

West Caldwell: Stonybrook Avenue near Annin Road, near Washington School
- Live Wires down, tree across road

Cedars Road near Washburn Place, Caldwell PHOTO: Chris Wysocki

5:16pm

Caldwell: Gould Place near Westville Avenue
- Tree onto multiple unoccupied cars

5:17pm

Essex Fells: Fells Road by Devon Road
- Tree across road

Campbell Road at Bodkin Road, Fairfield PHOTO: Bonnie Kamochi

5:18pm

Fairfield: Campbell Road near Bodkin
- Tree onto house with odor of gas coming from the house

5:19pm

Location Unclear
- Accident with airbag deployment

5:24pm

Caldwell: Birkendene Road, Cherry Lane, Cleveland Road
- 3 Utility Poles pulled down

Passaic Avenue across from Essex County Airport, Fairfield PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley

Passaic Avenue across from Essex County Airport, Fairfield PHOTO: Fiona Curley

5:27pm

Fairfield: Passaic Avenue near Boardwalk Pizza
- Tree down and blocking the lane
Fairfield: New Dutch Lane
- Tree down and blocking the lane
- Live Wires down, brush and bushes on fire

5:29pm

West Caldwell: Grover Lane
- unclear

5:31pm

North Caldwell: Maywood Court at Gould Avenue
- Utility Pole down across Maywood

Williamsburg Drive, Roseland PHOTO: Michele Madia Valeriani

5:32pm

Roseland: Passaic Avenue near Green Avenue
- Utility Pole on fire

5:33pm

West Caldwell: Bloomfield Avenue near Johnson Avenue
- Office building ceiling collapse
North Caldwell: Hamilton Drive North at Rosemont Court
- Road blocked by tree issues
North Caldwell: Evergreen Drive at North Terrace
- Road blocked by tree issues

5:35pm

West Caldwell: Oak Grove Road by White Birch Terrace
- 2 large Tree into house

5:36pm

North Caldwell: Evergreen Drive by Green Place
- Tree into back of house

5:37pm

Fairfield: Hollywood Avenue by Big Piece Road
- Utility Pole snapped; Live Wires down

5:39pm

Fairfield: Horseneck Road near Park Avenue
- Tree down

5:41pm

North Caldwell: Hamilton Drive East by Green Place
- Live Wires down, large branches down

5:42pm

West Caldwell: Thrumont Road by Westover Avenue
- Live Wires down

5:44pm

West Caldwell: Sunnie Terrace by Westville Avenue
- Live Wires detached from House

Police begin welfare checks of residences, including homes where children are on their own.

5:45pm

Fairfield: Fairfield Road near Woodland Road
- Smoke condition

5:48pm

West Caldwell: Park Street near Evergreen Road
- Trees across Park Street
- Live Wires down
Fairfield: Brook Street by Clinton Road
- Tree down, Live Wires down

5:51pm

North Caldwell: Central Avenue near Grandview Avenue
- Tree hanging across wires
- Tree on car
- Grandview Avenue closed
Fairfield: Brook Street by Oak Road
- Utility Pole into House
- Live Wires low hanging across Brook Street - road closed

5:52pm

Montville / Fairfield - Bloomfield Avenue
- Live Wires down
- Bloomfield Avenue closed down

Repeated call for all available First Responders and Work Crews to report to their headquarters.

5:55pm

West Caldwell: Lombard Drive near Pine Tree Place
- Live Wires down

5:58pm

North Caldwell: Glenview Road near Ferndale Road
- Tree and Live Wires down

Roseland Methodist Church, Eagle Rock Avenue PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley

5:59pm

Roseland: Eagle Rock Avenue, Methodist Church

Large Tree Branch down across driveway

Midvale Avenue near Esposito Drive, Fairfield PHOTO: Mark Andrew Bilhuber

6:04pm

Fairfield: Midvale Avenue near Esposito Drive
- Large Tree down blocking Esposito Drive
- Multiple Live Wires and Utility poles down
  - Esposito Drive closed

6:08pm

West Caldwell: Westover Avenue near Ravine Avenue
- Live Wires down

6:12pm

Fairfield: Henning Drive and Hollywood Avenue
- Low hanging Live Wires
- Large tree down

6:14pm

Fairfield: Big Piece Road and Horseneck Road
- Live Wires down, connected to house

6:16pm

Fairfield: Big Piece Road near DPW building
- Tree blocking road
- Tree into House
- Big Piece closed near Dell Court

6:20pm

West Caldwell: Woodmere Road near James Caldwell HS
- Live Wire down blocking entrance to house

Hamilton Drive South by Woodland Place, North Caldwell PHOTO: Lisa Margolis Goldstein

6:22pm

North Caldwell: Grandview Place near Grandview Avenue
- Tree down

6:25pm

Location unclear
- Transformer and Live Wires down

Alan Drive, Fairfield PHOTO: Lisa Pitera Pasternak‎

6:26pm

Fairfield: Craig Place near Bodkin Road
- Tree down; Neighbor dispute over ownership

Gazebo from lower deck landed upside down on upper deck, Lane Avenue, Caldwell PHOTO: Janna Smith

6:29pm

Caldwell: Parkway West near Oak Grove Road
- Live Wires down

6:30pm

Caldwell: Bowers Road near Cherry Lane
- Live Wires down

6:31pm

Fairfield: Gately Overpass near Fairfield Road
- Tree down

6:32pm

West Caldwell: Lane Avenue near Klimback Court
- Tree into Garage

6:39pm

Fairfield: Stewart Place near Commerce Road
- Tree issue

6:41pm

Unclear Location: Park Avenue
- Tree into Garage

7:02pm

West Caldwell: Hillside Avenue near Harrison Street
- Tree into House

Kennedy Drive, Fairfield PHOTO: Fairfield Police

7:06pm

Fairfield: Kennedy Drive near Holly Drive
- Large tree down across driveway

7:23pm

North Caldwell: West Essex High School / Middle Schools
- Large Tree Down, Branches Down, Live Wires Down

7:31pm

Fairfield: Big Piece Road near Dell Court
- Uprooted Tree into house with Gas Line exposed

7:55pm

West Caldwell: Evergreen Road near Park Street
- Tree Down

8:04pm

Caldwell: Westville Avenue near Thomas Street
- Tree Down on property

8:12pm

West Caldwell: Elmwood Terrace near McKinley Avenue
- Live Wires down

8:18pm

Caldwell: Highview Road near Prospect Street
- Tree into House

By the end of the Storm, over 90 streets which included hundreds of residents, were without power:

CALDWELL
- Beekman Hill Road
- Birkendene Road
- Bloomfield Avenue
- Bowers Road
- Brookside Avenue
- Cedars Road
- Cherry Lane
- Cleveland Road
- Crane Street
- Elizabeth Street
- Elm Road
- Erwin Place
- Ferndale Road
- Gladding Road
- Gould Place
- Grover Lane
- Hatfield Street
- Highview Road
- Hillside Avenue
- Linwood Terrace
- Overlook Road
- Parkway East
- Personette Street
- Prospect Street
- Roseland Avenue surges
- Ryerson Avenue
- Seymour Street
- Thomas Street
- Washburn Street

ESSEX FELLS
- Avon Drive
- Devon Road
- Forest Way
- Gordon Road
- Grove Street
- Hawthorne Road
- Holton Lane
- Oak Lane
- Old Chester Road
- Oval Road
- Park Lane
- Rensselaer Road
- Roseland Avenue
- Stewart Road

FAIRFIELD
- Big Piece Road
- Commerce Road
- Concord Road
- Crestwood Avenue
- Esposito Drive
- Fox Hill Road
- Henning Drive
- Hillside Drive
- Hollywood Avenue
- Kennedy Drive
- Oak Road
- Phylis Lane
- Route 46
- Stewart Place
- Vine Street

NORTH CALDWELL
- Arbor Road
- Brookside Terrace
- Courter Lane
- East Greenbrook Road
- Ferndale Road
- Hill Street
- Mountain Avenue
- Rickland Drive
- White Oak Drive
- Wind Ridge Drive

ROSELAND
- Davenport Avenue
- Eagle Rock Avenue
- Godfrey Avenue
- Mitchell Avenue
- Monroe Avenue
- Roseland Place
- Route 280
- Thackery Drive
- Williamsburg Drive

WEST CALDWELL
- Beechwood Road
- Bloomfield Avenue
- Debaun Avenue
- Distler Avenue
- Farrington Street
- Gardens
- Johnson Avenue
- Lee Drive
- Parkview Ave
- Richard Avenue
- Runnymede
- Sanford Avenue
- Westville Avenue

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Category 10 Winds, Along with Intense Squall and Thunderstorms, Create Instant Chaos Across West Essex Tuesday

Archives

Categories

Police

NORTH CALDWELL POLICE INVESTIGATE WOODLAND AVENUE ​​FRIDAY EVENING BURGLARY

NORTH CALDWELL POLICE investigate WOODLAND AVENUE ​FRIDAY EVENING BURGLARY

NORTH CALDWELL RESIDENT AND POLICE PREVENT WILLOWBROOK DRIVE BURGLARY

NORTH CALDWELL RESIDENTAND POLICE PREVENTWILLOWBROOK DRIVE BURGLARY

Category 10 Winds, Along with Intense Squall and Thunderstorms, Create Instant Chaos Across West Essex Tuesday

Archives

Categories

NORTH CALDWELL POLICE INVESTIGATE WOODLAND AVENUE FRIDAY EVENING BURGLARY

NORTH CALDWELL POLICE investigate WOODLAND AVENUE
FRIDAY EVENING BURGLARY

NORTH CALDWELL RESIDENT
AND POLICE PREVENT
WILLOWBROOK DRIVE BURGLARY