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Fire Rages At New Jersey PSE&G Power Switching Station

BRANCHBURG, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- An extra-alarm fire broke out Tuesday afternoon at a PSE&G power switching station in Branchburg, N.J. Wednesday evening.

Public Service Electric & Gas told CBS 2 the fire broke out just before 5 p.m. at the plant on Old York Road near U.S. 202 in Branchburg.

"Basically, we had an equipment failure with our transformer that caused a fire this afternoon at our PSE&G switching station, which is along 202 in Branchburg," PSEG spokeswoman Nancy Tucker told WCBS 880. "And there have been no injuries reported, and no customers lost service as a result of this incident."

The local fire department declared a 2-alarm fire, which was later raised to a 3-alarm. The blaze was still burning at 8:30 p.m., and hot spots were still being extinguished as late as 11 p.m.

Smoke was visible all the way from Newark Liberty International Airport, CBS 2's Joe Biermann reported from Chopper 2.

Several explosions were reported before the fire began.

A fuel leak was reported at the scene, and special foam trucks were called in, officials said.

As of 8:30 p.m., one lane of northbound Route 202 remained closed. Delays of several miles were reported earlier.

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