PG&E: Santa Margarita crash caused outages for more than 2,000 SLO County residents
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. - More than 2,600 residents in northern San Luis Obispo County were without power Thursday due to three reported outages.
The first outage took place more than 12 hours before the second and third, but all three are expected to be fully restored by Thursday evening.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) said the first outage started around 6:46 p.m. Wednesday and affected about 960 customers west of Templeton and Highway 101, from just south of Highway 46 to Lake Nacimiento in the north.
Power is expected to be restored to those customers by 4 p.m. Thursday. PG&E said they have not yet identified the cause, but crews are inspecting the circuit on Thursday with help from a helicopter, something they could not do overnight.
The second outage occurred around 11:05 a.m. Thursday morning and impacted roughly 1,663 residents in the Santa Margarita and Atascadero areas. It was followed shortly by a third outage affecting 400 people to the east and south of the area.
PG&E investigated and determined both the second and third outages were caused by a vehicle that crashed into a power pole in the area of Highway 58 and Pozo Road.
The crash caused power lines to go down in the area. Highway 58 was temporarily closed in both directions while PG&E crews responded.
Power is expected to be fully restored to residents impacted by this crash around 5:15 p.m.
PG&E said, in the event you come across downed wires, you are advised to:
- Treat all low hanging and downed power lines as if they are energized and extremely dangerous.
- Keep yourself, children, other people and pets away from them.
- Be aware of trees, pools of water and other objects that may be in contact with downed power lines.
- If customers see damaged power lines and electric equipment, they should call 911, and then notify PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.
TRAFFIC COLLISION: HWY 58 x Pozo Rd #SantaMargarita. Vehicle into a power pole, lines are down and the power is out in Santa Margarita. #Firefighters are responding. Use caution while driving in the area.⚠️ #CountyOfSlo pic.twitter.com/SYsmFAcEn8
— CAL FIRE SLO (@CALFIRE_SLO) September 9, 2021
For more information on outages in San Luis Obispo County, click here.
