Benefit blood drive for 10-year-old Bayonne boy
On March 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Peninsula Lodge No. 99 (888 Ave. C) will host an emergency blood drive to directly benefit Cavan Perera, a 10-year-old Bayonne boy who has been hospitalized in St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick. Cavan suffers from an aggressive form of Leukemia, which has him hospitalized. Cavan has suffered many complications at such a young age. His father owns Andrew’s Café at 737 Broadway.
Financial fundraisers have been a huge success to help offset the financial burden this has placed on the family. The Blood Center of New Jersey has opened its resources to Peninsula Lodge. Scheduled donations will be given preferential treatment with head of the line privileges over walk ins.
Cavan is in desperate need of platelets to keep his body going. It takes five units (pints) of whole blood product (separated mechanically at a remote facility) to make one pint of useable platelets. So he will need more donors than ever before.
For more information, contact Joe Czapla, junior warden and member of the Peninsula Lodge Blood Dive Committee of Peninsula Lodge No. 99 of F&A.M. at (201) 978-2114, or email Joseph.Czapla@peninsula99.org.
The lodge is located at 888 Ave. C. To schedule a donation, visit www.bloodnj.org.
Upcoming meetings
The City Council caucus meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. on March 7 in the City Council Chambers at Avenue C and 27th Street.
The Board of Trustees for the Free Public Library and Cultural Center will be held on Tuesday, March 6, at 7 p.m. in the conference room at the Main Library, 697 Ave. C.
Exploding power lines cause brush fire
Downed power lines exploding with bright white flashes near LeFante Way caused adjacent brush to ignite during the evening rush hour on Feb. 21 at about 6:30 p.m.
The Bayonne Fire Department responded to the call of downed wires in the area of Dee & L and Kedem warehouses, and found multiple power and telecommunications wires down. Three of the 13,000-volt wires were emitting blinding light. Firefighters could not address the brush fire, which had extended about 75 yards until PSE&G was able to shut down the power, said Fire Chief Greg Rogers.
“Deep burns and scarring to the road were left behind by the damaging high voltage lines,” Rogers said. “Approximately 60 people in total were evacuated from the two warehouses as a precaution. The downed wires, which fed the Dee & L Warehouse, were found pulled and severed in the direction of an adjacent railcar line, along with two leaning utility poles. A train had reportedly passed through around the time of the incident.”
The power was shut down at 7:45 p.m., and power began to be restored at about 9 p.m. There were no reported injuries.
Smoke out of manhole result of cable malfunction
At about 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, firefighters responded to the intersection of 24th Street and Avenue C on the report of a sparking transformer and found smoke billowing out of a manhole.
Firefighters determined that there was a fire in the manhole. Smoke came out, followed by periodic explosions and flames. PSE&G indicated that there was a primary cable failure in an underground vault.
Fire Chief Greg Rogers said some buildings in the adjacent area were impacted by an apparent back-feed of power, and 544 and 546 Ave. C became energized, causing sporadic electrical arcing in multiple locations within the building. One small fire occurred near a hot-water heater, but was quickly extinguished from a distance by firefighters. Three businesses were impacted by the emergency (AccuReference Medical Lab, Chicken Holiday, and Maria Quality Dry Cleaning).
Three adjacent (14-unit) three-story apartment buildings (554 and 552 Ave. C), along with the single story commercial building (544 and 546 Ave. C businesses), and several two-story residences were temporarily evacuated as a precaution. The power to 544 and 546 Ave. C was unable to be restored due to damaged wiring within the building.
One firefighter suffered ear pain following a manhole explosion, and was examined at the scene by EMS. The Fire Department, Police Department, EMS, PSE&G, Building Department, and Health Department were at the incident. The fire was determined to be accidental, and the result of a power cable failure.