downed wire in yard

Hi Everyone - this morning I discovered a downed wire in our front yard (still connected to our house, but disconnected from the utility pole). I called PSE&G, but they said it is "probably" not their wire as we still have power in the house (though they are going to send someone to make sure.)

Assuming PSE&G is right, does anyone have any idea what the correct procedure is to get this taken care of? Do I just started calling every utility that could possibly have installed the wire? I also have Verizon Fios, but our house is 90 years old, so I assume that other utilities (cable, phone) have wired the house at different times. Is there someone from the town that I can call? A private business/contractor?

Any help is appreciated.

I have the same problem. Waiting for here!

I recently had some heavy work done in our front yard which knocked down a wire. Nothing happened inside, so I figured it was obsolete and never called anyone about it. (The workers tied it off neatly.) I bet we all have many disused old wires leading into our houses.

I am going to take a shot in the dark and say it is probably the plain old (copper) telephone line, aka "pots line". If the broken end looks like a bunch of small wires that's what it is. If it's one thick wire it could be an old cable line.

Whatever it is, don't touch it until PSE&G comes out! They would also be able to tell you what the wire is.

Kurt

Thanks, all. PSE&G came by and confirmed it wasn't a power line, so I just cut it down and threw it in the garbage. Not sure if that was the smart thing to do, but I'm still alive.

Once it was confirmed that it wasn't live, I would have turned it into a radio antenna...

I had this problem in Maplewood once. Actually, it wasn't downed. A tree limb threatened to "down" it. I called PSE&G, comcast, and Verizon. Eventually, I found it was Verizon's cable. A guy came to clip the tree branch. He thanked me and was very surprised that someone called him proactively; that never happens.