by Tim Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
In the late morning of Wednesday, December 26, the power to homes and businesses from north of Overton to just beyond where the construction is taking place on the Gubler Bridge was knocked out. The cause of the outage was due to a reckless driver, driving a Ford Explorer, striking power poll and knocking out power to those parts of the community.
The accident took place at the curve on Moapa Valley Boulevard just after Lyman Street. The Explorer was the only vehicle involved in the accident. The driver, unidentified at press time, was removed from the vehicle and taken to Las Vegas in an ambulance for treatment. According to witness of the accident, the diver took the curve going around 80-miles-per-hour or more and lost control of his vehicle just after Lyman Street going off the road south of Moapa Valley Boulevard. . While trying to correct and get back onto the road the diver of the Explorer hit the power poll at the far end of the curve destroying the poll and bringing down the power lines. Bouncing off the power poll the vehicle fishtailed across the road, turned over on its side, and came to a stop facing west on the north side of Moapa Valley Boulevard. Witnesses put out a small fire on the bottom of the vehicle and the driver, who was reported by witnesses to be an elderly male, was helped out of the car. The Nevada Highway Patrol was quickly on the scene as was the Overton Power District (OPD) workers. According to the Richard Jones of the Overton Power District, the breaker to turn off the power on the line threw within seconds of the poll coming down.
“The poll shattered right through the middle,” Jones said, “we were able to restore power from Overton to the Yamashita Bridge within 15 to 20 minutes. Power was restored to all but three homes within an hour and twenty minutes. The three homes were those closest to the poll and took their power directly off the polls transformer. Power came on to these homes around 6 pm.” According to Jones, vehicles strike an average of two power polls each year in the Valley. Usually power company workers can elevate the lines with equipment, restoring power to customers quickly while making necessary replacements to the power polls. Jones also gave a warning to the public and emergency personnel alike regarding accidents near downed power lines. He reminded the public that there is usually about 12500 volts of electricity in the lines and that they are air insulated, which means that they are un-insinuated. He warned that while the breakers used by OPD to turn off power in such accidents are state of the art it is best to stay clear of downed lines until OPD work crews arrive and make sure the power is turned off. The vehicle in this accident came to rest across the street from the power lines so nether the public nor emergency officials were in any danger of electrocution in this incident.
