Authorities say outage could last several hours after driver hits power pole near Shelley
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SHELLEY – Crews are working to repair a power line on U.S. Highway 91 near Shelley after a driver knocked it down Monday night.
The collision happened just before 6 p.m. south of 1400 North near some railroad tracks, according to Corporal Van Orden with the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office.
A 30-year-old man from Blackfoot — whom authorities did not identify — was headed south in a silver Subaru Impreza. The man told deputies he fell asleep, crossed over into the northbound lane and hit the power pole.
“It took a chunk out of it,” Van Orden says of the power pole. “The bottom half is gone. The top half is still there holding power lines.”
No one was injured, but more than 1,500 Rocky Mountain Power customers are in the dark, as of 7:25 p.m. Its website estimates power will be restored before 9 p.m.
Van Orden thinks it will take a lot longer — between three and five hours.
Highway 91 was temporarily shutdown immediately following the crash. The northbound lane is now being diverted at Anderson.
The crash also caused some damage to the railroad track at that intersection. Van Orden says crews with Union Pacific Railroad are on scene making repairs alongside the power company.
