JACKSON, Miss. – It’s something a lot of people in the metro didn’t expect to see when they were in Fondren grabbing lunch.
A transformer was on the ground and several cars were on fire near Duling Avenue.
“I heard a crunch it fell, and then there were flames,” Sylvester Davis explained.
Like a scene from a movie, a transformer pole snapped in half and car after car in this Fondren parking lot went up in flames.
“I thought it was an earthquake, you see something shaking but I’m driving and had to hit reverse and back out,” Jason Miller said.
When the power lines fell around 2 o’clock, it sparked a fire.
Jessica Burns describes what she felt, as the transformer fell to the ground.
“The ground shook very hard, I almost fell down by walking on the ground,” she said. “People about a block away said that they felt the top of their building shake as well.”
There were no injuries, but there was heavy damage to at least four cars, including Mark Leopold’s truck.
“My first thought was, I should get a fire extinguisher and then my second thought which happened immediately afterward was that’s a really dumb idea–and I’m just going to sit back and let someone that has a clue what they’re doing take care of it,” Leopold explained.
Entergy crews believe the pole mounting the transformer simply cracked – a freak accident something that could have been tragic.
“Someone could have easily been in their car, just leaving for a moment and it been detrimental,” he said.
Since the fire, power has been restored to all the restaurants in that area.
