Fire Marshals: EPCAL Electrical Fire Was "Rare Occurrence"

After all buildings at Enterprise Park at Calverton lost power early Thursday night due to an electrical fire, Suffolk County Fire Marshals have said that there is no foul play suspected, according to police. 

Lt. Rick Boden of the Riverhead Police Department said that the marshals described Thursday's fire, which knocked out preliminary and backup power lines to EPCAL, as an "extraordinarily rare occurrence," and could find no cause. 

Requests for information from the Suffolk County Fire Marshals were not immediately returned. 

Riverhead Police and Manorville Fire Department responded after a fire broke out at approximately 12:50 a.m. on Thursday, said Long Island Power Authority Spokesman Mark Gross. He said that 20 customers lost power, and that a temporary line had been installed servicing the area as of 9:15 p.m. Thursday.

"It was a pretty bad fire," Gross said. "Our inspectors surveyed the damage and there were a lot of cables and wires destroyed. Permanent repairs will take a while."

According to police reports, a LIPA representative called to the scene originally believed the cause to be suspicious, stating that the entrance to the LIPA substation located underground had been open, and that "several fresh foot prints" surrounded the area. 

A subsequent K-9 search yielded no results for police, and Lt. Boden added that while footprints and an open hatch may seem suspicious on the surface, the possibilities are too wide to assume.

"Those footprints could have been from anybody," he said.