Truck knocks out power on Arizona Ave

A block of Arizona Avenue was closed for several hours Monday afternoon after a semitrailer hit an overhead power line.

According to Yuma police, the accident happened at about 1 p.m. on 22nd Street between Arizona Avenue and Factor Avenue.

As the semitrailer was leaving the parking lot of Gila Vista Junior High after making a delivery, the upper right corner of its trailer made contact with an overhead powerline, police said.

"The initial call we got was for an injury accident involving a truck and a power pole," said Sgt. Don Willits of the Yuma Police Department. "The driver, however, was not injured. He did say he felt a slight buzz, which could have been the electricity."

As a result, a nearby power line broke off at its base, but was kept leaning in place, held up by the lines that were still connected to it.

One line did fall to the ground, but it was not immediately known what type of line it was.

The accident caused a power outage in the surrounding area, with the Yuma Sun and YPD losing power.

"The power outage seems to be extensive," Willits said.

Willits said that backup generators at the police department came on line when the department lost power so it wasn't affected adversely.

Arizona Public Service was called to the scene and was able to restore partial power to most of the affected areas within the hour.

"Repair crews were able to route power through the system in order to provide power to a majority of the customers who were originally affected," said APS spokesperson Andrea Bereznak

Bereznak said only about a dozen or so customers east of 22nd Street remained affected by the outage. She added that she did not have any figures indicating how vast the outage was.

APS expected to have the repair work completed by 6 p.m. Monday evening, but cautioned it could take longer.

Arizona Avenue was closed between 22nd Street and 23rd Street, while 22nd Street was closed between Arizona Avenue and Factor Avenue. Yuma police were detouring traffic through the area while repair work was being done.

"We were worrying about other high-profile vehicles hitting the power line, which is sagging pretty low now," Willits said.

Shortly after the accident, police contacted Little Sprouts, the day care center in the area, about making plans to contact parents and have them come get their children since it wasn't known how long the business would be without power.

------

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.