Fire Department Busy As Storms Rip Through Orange

Update as of 12:00 a.m. on September 19:

As heavy rains and winds pummelled Orange Tuesday -- downing trees, flooding intersections and strewing debris across roads -- fire crews responded to at least two incidents stemming from the storms.

On Grassy Hill Road, near Prudden Lane, volunteer firefighters responded to clear away a tree that fell across the road, likely some time between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Initial reports from the scene suggest the tree could have taken down power lines.

Shortly afterward, fire crews responded to a separate incident at Orange Hill Country Club, where initial reports suggest the storm may have been responsible for a transformer fire. According to firefighters, both incidents had been cleared, or were mostly cleared, by 10:30 p.m.

Further incidents may come to light. Patch will update this story as more information about last night's storm damage becomes available.

To help us document last night's storm damage -- from downed trees to power outages --let us know in the comments, or upload your storm damage photos above!

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Update as of 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 18:

According to UI's website, the estimated time for power to be restored varies from 10:24 p.m. to 11:56 p.m., depending on where you live.

The original report follows:

A storm packing strong winds and heavy rain is leaving its mark on Orange tonight.

There are currently 589 UI customers without power in town (9.5%) due to two separate incidents. One of those involves a downed tree that is blocking Grassy Hill Road in the area of Prudden Lane.

The road was impassable as of 9:20 p.m. as firefighters await the arrival of a UI crew to begin clearing the tree from the road. It appears that tree took out a transformer.

UI has not provided an estimated time for power to be back on, but its website states that a crew is enroute to one of the incidents in Orange and the other is awaiting assignment.

In all, there are currently 5,998 UI customers without power.

Orange Patch will continue to provide updates on local conditions as information becomes available.