Pole struck; large scale outage averted by crews
A recycling truck struck a utility pole at the end of Kittanning Street on Wednesday morning and snapped the wood into three equal pieces, causing a complicated repair for West Penn Power crews.
Nine trucks bearing the logo of the power company swarmed the scene shortly after the pole was hit at 7:20 a.m.
Todd Myers, West Penn Power spokesman, said the pole held lines for two major circuits that provide power to Butler’s 7,000 customers.
He said the lines were hanging precariously when crews arrived, but were not de-energized.
Workers fanned out and temporarily reconfigured electrical service to minimize the number of customers who would be without power during the replacement of the pole and repair of the electrical lines at the site of the incident, Myers said.
He said that while power to 900 customers was cut to make the repairs, crews were able to avoid outages for another 2,500 customers, including Butler Memorial Hospital just up the hill.
“There are a lot of other customers out there who never knew they would have been without power,” Myers said.
Most of the customers who were powered down during the repairs were in Butler, with a few in Center and Butler townships, he said.
While some workers were reconfiguring service, others were collaborating with PA One Call in preparation to dig at the site of the pole in order to place a new pole.
Kittanning Street was closed at its intersection with East Jefferson Street, and many business owners stood outside their darkened shops and watched as workers in lifts took down the old pole and its light, attached lines to the new pole, and set it in place.
“It was a pretty complicated repair,” Myers said.
The Marathon and Sunoco gas stations at the intersection of East Jefferson and North Monroe streets were closed, and the gas pumps were taped off with caution tape.
Fred Reese, owner of the Monroe Hotel at the same intersection, had served lunch to six tables and had three people at the bar when his power was shut down at about noon.
“Wednesday is a pretty good lunch day,” Reese said. “This is going to hurt a little bit.”
He said two waitresses, one bartender, four cooks and two dishwashers were on staff when the outage occurred.
Reese tried to send the cooks home, but they insisted on staying to chop vegetables and perform other tasks using their cell phones for light.
The dishwashers spent their time picking up trash outside of the building.
“I said ‘You guys are crazy,’” Reese said.
He expected to be back up and running for the dinnertime rush.
Chief Bob O’Neill of the Butler Bureau of Police said the driver of the truck stopped and called 911 after backing into the pole.
No charges are planned at this time, O’Neill said.
Myers said the power was restored at 3:15 p.m.
