Electrical Issue Leads To Evacuation At Brick School

NOTE: This article has been updated to clarify and correct that only a small number of students were evacuated from Emma Havens Young Elementary and that the school day proceeded normally for the majority of the students at both schools. Patch regrets the error.

BRICK, NJ — A squirrel that got into electrical equipment caused a power outage that led to a short evacuation of students and staff at one Brick Township school Thursday morning, authorities said.

Students in the district's BEST program (Brick Extended School Time) at Emma Havens Young Elementary School were moved across the parking lot to Drum Point Elementary School while firefighters checked the building for electrical issues after a problem on a pole at the schools' complex, said Susan McNamara, the district's director of planning, research and evaluation.

Chris Hoenig, a spokesman for Jersey Central Power & Light, said the issue was reported at shortly after 8 a.m. A troubleshooter and a foreman responded and found the squirrel had come into contact with the equipment, causing a blown fuse and damage to the wiring, he said.

McNamara said the students in the BEST programs at Emma Havens and at Drum Point Elementary — 23 from Emma Havens and 8 from Drum Point — were moved into two classrooms at Drum Point, with the approval of firefighters, while the firefighters assessed the situation. Once firefighters gave the all clear, the Emma Havens students returned to the all-purpose room at the school.

Because the incident happened at the beginning of the school day, there were only minor disruptions for the bulk of the students at Drum Point Elementary School. McNamara said the buses for Drum Point were held briefly across the street at the Brick Police Athletic League building, but unloaded students on time at 8:30 a.m.

Classes at Emma Havens Young begin at 8:55 a.m. There were minor bus delays but no issues beyond that, she said.

Hoenig said power was anticipated to be restored by late morning.