Fresh transformer in place, toasted shrubs to go

BY VICTOR G. MIMONI

Friday, August 7, 2009 12:16 PM EDT

In the aftermath of the recent three-alarm fire at a Con Ed substation in Douglaston, things are pretty much back to normal – unless you’re a shrubbery.

Emergency crews working around the clock had the charred remains of the old transformer enclosure removed, and a brand-new unit in its place by Sunday, July 26 – just two days after the fire, according to Con Ed spokesperson Allan Drury.

“Most of the feeders out of that substation were working the day after the fire,” Drury said.

The new “step down” transformer, which takes 27,000-volt electricity and reduces it to household voltage for the local feeder lines, was “up and running” on Friday, July 31, Drury said.

“We are working with the Garden Club to install shrubs,” Drury said. The Douglaston Garden Club had planted the existing shrubbery around the site, according to spokesperson Douglas Montgomery.

What remains to be seen is the fate of the trees surrounding the substation, some of which were badly scorched by the flames, which leapt some 30 feet into the air.

“We’re not going to do any pruning at all right now,” said Montgomery, who holds a New York City license as a tree-pruner. “We’ll wait for leaf-fall and see how they come back in the spring.”

As for the smaller bushes and plants, that were closer to the fire, Montgomery expressed little doubt. “They were cooked.”