Car Crashes Cause Outages for PUD Customers
December 24, 2009
Two separate car crashes caused power outages for Columbia River PUD customers this week.
On Monday, local law enforcement officers were chasing a Honda Accord down Dike Road when the driver lost control and hit a power pole at 7:51 p.m., causing an outage for about 1,100 customers in south Scappoose.
Replacement of the broken utility pole was delayed so police officers could complete their investigation at the scene. PUD crews were able to restore power to 750 customers within two hours. The remaining 350 customers were without power for an additional six hours while the broken pole was replaced.
On Wednesday, a Ford Explorer struck a utility pole on Pittsburg Road at 4:15 p.m., breaking the pole but leaving the power lines energized and hanging down over the vehicle. PUD crews de-energized the power lines so that the occupants could safely exit the car, and then replaced the broken pole.
"The occupants did the right thing by staying inside the car and waiting for utility crews to ensure they could exit safely. They avoided potential electrocution, which could have seriously injured or killed them," said PUD Engineering and Operations Manager Steve Hursh.
The outage affected 1,025 customers. All but 100 customers had power restored by 5:15 p.m. Power to the remaining customers was restored by 6:00 p.m.
The PUD will bill the owner of the Honda Accord and the driver of the Ford Explorer for repair and power restoration costs.
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For more information, contact Libby Calnon, PUD Communication Specialist, at lca@crpud.org or (503) 366-3264.
Columbia River People's Utility District provides electric service to 18,560 customers in Columbia and Multnomah Counties in Oregon.
The PUD employs 49 people and had FY2008 gross revenues of $28.7 million.
